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Route 66 | Hackberry 04/12/2009 13h10
A place full of Route 66 memorabilia and vintage cars all over the place. The general store has been turned into a Route 66 museum and no gas is sold at the old pumps in front of it. The store is run by John and Kerry Pritchard.
Route 66 Arizona (recommended site)
Route 66
U.S. Route 66 (also known as the Will Rogers Highway after the humorist, and colloquially known as the "Main Street of America" or the "Mother Road") was a highway in the U.S. Highway System. One of the original U.S. highways, Route 66, US Highway 66, was established on November 11, 1926. However, road signs did not go up until the following year.
The famous highway originally ran from Chicago, Illinois, through Missouri, Kansas, Oklahoma, Texas, New Mexico, Arizona, and California, before ending at Los Angeles, encompassing a total of 2,448 miles (3,940 km). It was recognized in popular culture by both a hit song (written by Bobby Troup and performed by the Nat King Cole Trio and The Rolling Stones, among others) and the Route 66 television show in the 1960s. More recently, the 2006 Disney/Pixar film Cars featured U.S. 66.
Route 66 underwent many improvements and realignments over its lifetime, changing its path and overall length. Many of the realignments gave travelers faster or safer routes, or detoured around city congestion. One realignment moved the western endpoint farther west from downtown Los Angeles to Santa Monica.
Route 66 was a major path of the migrants who went west, especially during the Dust Bowl of the 1930s, and supported the economies of the communities through which the road passed. People doing business along the route became prosperous due to the growing popularity of the highway, and those same people later fought to keep the highway alive even with the growing threat of being bypassed by the new Interstate Highway System.
US 66 was officially removed from the United States Highway System on June 27, 1985 after it was decided the route was no longer relevant and had been replaced by the Interstate Highway System. Portions of the road that passed through Illinois, Missouri, New Mexico, and Arizona have been designated a National Scenic Byway of the name "Historic Route 66". It has begun to return to maps in this form. Some portions of the road in southern California have been redesignated "State Route 66", and others bear "Historic Route 66" signs and relevant historic information.
[ Source and more information: Wikipedia - Route 66 ]
(further pictures and information you can see by clicking on the link at the end of page!)
Austrian State Archives (ÖStA)
Austrian authority
Oesterreichisches Staatsarchiv.svg
State level Federation
Position of the authority subordinated agency
Supervisor(s)/organs to the Federal Chancellery
Founded in 1749 as the Secret House Archive (Empress Maria Theresia)
Headquarters Vienna Highway (Landstraße, 3rd district of Vienna)
Board of Directors Univ. Doz Dr. Wolfgang Maderthaner
www.oesta.gv.at site
Central Archives building of the Austrian State Archives in Nottendorfergasse 2 in Vienna 3
The Austrian State Archives (ÖStA) in Vienna is the central archive of the Republic of Austria. It keeps on the basis of the Federal Records Act the archives of the Federation. The tasks of the Austrian State Archives are therein described as follows: capturing, taking over, keeping, obtaining, placing, organizing, making accessible, exploiting and utilisation of archived documents of the Federation for the exploration of the history and present, for other research and science, for the legislation, jurisdiction, administration as well as for legitimate concerns of people.
As far as in the public records monuments are concerned, the Austrian State Archives according to Monument Protection Act in place of the Federal Monuments Office is also responsible for the preservation.
History
The origin of the Austrian State Archives goes back to the year 1749 when Empress Maria Theresa in the course of an administrative reform installed a secret Hausarchiv. The establishment was related to the new, centralized administration, which required a separate archive. For other centers of administration such as Prague, Graz and Innsbruck documents were taken to Vienna.
In the historical analysis is important to note that there have been earlier archives and collections of documents, whose contents were incorporated into the new archive.
In the 19th Century the name House, Court and State Archives became then usual.
1951 there was a scandal because Heinz Grill, archivist in the House, Court and State Archives, had stolen gold and silver bulls over the years and sold to metal dealers ("affair Grill").
The archive departments
The modern Austrian State Archives is divided into several sections:
Archives of the Republic
The in 1983 founded archive of the Republic is the youngest archive department. It is the center of contemporary research in Austria and archival responsible for the evaluation, discarding, taking over and custody, safeguarding, maintenance and overhaul, accessing, compilation and exploitation of those written or typed material supply, which in the Austrian central authorities (all ministries, central federal departments and subordinated offices) have been produced since 1918.
Since the introduction of the electronic file (ELAKimBUND) in the Austrian federal administration (nationwide for all federal agencies since 2004), the Archives of the Republic is also responsible for the implementation of the digital archiving of this written material. Since 2007 it has been actively worked on an appropriate solution for long-term preservation of the "born digital" act. The startup of the digital archive Austria took place in 2012.
General Administration Archive
The General Administration Archives preserves the records of the central authorities responsible for internal administration of the Habsburg Monarchy from 16th Century, over 12,700 running meters, a significant collection of maps and plans, and about 5,000 documents. In its origins, the General Administration Archive goes back to the first-time centralisation of the old registries of the court chancelleries in founding the "Directorium in publicis et cameralibus" in 1749. The archive materials of the General Administrative archive were decimated by the Justice Palace fire in July 1927 considerably.
The public records which are kept in this division are divided into 10 thematic groups (= inventory groups), which for their part again contain files of various central services:
Inventory group Internal Affairs: Chancellery, Ministry of Interior, police authorities, Council of Ministers, rights of the Austrian State of Lower Austria, city expansion fund
Inventory group Justice: Supreme Justice office, Ministry of Justice, prosecutors, Linz Regional Court, Imperial Court, Administrative Court
Inventory group Instruction and Cultus: Studienhofkommission (Imperial Commission on Education), Ministry of Education, Old and New Cultus
Inventory group Commerce: Department of Commerce, Post Office, Ministry of Public Works, Navy Department, Patent Office
Inventory group Agriculture: Ministry of Agriculture, Agricultural Operations, Forestry and Dömänendirektion (Domain Directorate) Vienna, Forest Institute Mariabrunn, teacher Audit Commission, Agricultural Society
Inventory group Transport: United Court Chancellery, General Court Chamber, Ministry of Public Works, Ministry of Trade, Commerce and Public buildings, Ministry of Finance, Ministry of Trade and National Economy, Department of Commerce, the General Inspectorate of the Austrian Railways, Ministry of Railways, Railway Construction Department, State railway administrations, private railway companies
Inventory group Family archives and Estates
Inventory group Nobility: imperial nobility files, Hofadelsakten (Court nobility records), pedigrees
Inventory group Audiovisual Collection: Politics and Public life since 1945, Austrian landscapes and buildings, customs, history, science, technology, medicine, business, art, culture and sport
Inventory group Plan and Posters collection: collection of plans comprised of the following funds: Hofbauamt (Court building authorities), chancellery, General Construction Authority, Lower Austrian Civil Construction Authority, Bausektion (construction section) of the Ministry of the Interior, Bausektion of the Ministry of Commerce, Ministry of Public Works, State Baudirektionen (construction directorates), Waterway Construction Authority, Dikasterialgebäudeverwaltung (dicasterila building administration), Ministry of Agriculture, Ministry of Culture and Teaching, Studienhofkommission (Imperial Commission on Education), Stiftungshofbuchhaltung (Foundation Court Bookkeeping), Ministry of Justice, city expansion fund
War Archive
The beginning of a proper Military Archives in the Habsburg monarchy is to fix in the year 1711, when Emperor Joseph I. ordered the creation of an archivist office with the Hofkriegsrat, the highest central authority for the Habsburg warfare. Already in the first half of the 18th Century, this hofkriegsrätliche (Court's warfare council) archives of the chancelleries has gradually evolved into a kind of military central archives, especially since 1776 through the merger of the hofkriegsrätlichen plan collection with the combat engineer the archives of the chancelleries in reference to cartographic material became to a central contact point. In addition, however, the aim was put on experiences in the past, lessons from former campaigns for the present and future. In view of the above, Emperor Joseph II in 1779 ordered the documentary revision of the campaigns since 1740. This access to the history of war intended Archduke Karl to continue, too, by 1801 disposing the creation of the Imperial War archive. This had according to its founding mission to collect documents and maps, but also scientifically and journalistically to evaluate.
The Imperial and Royal (from 1889 kuk) Kriegsarchiv (war archive) initially consisted of a department of scriptures, a card archive, library and a department of military history works. By the end of the 19th Century the war archive had the bulk of the until then elsewhere stored military documentary material taken on. During the First World War, the war archive had with the assumption of mass documentary material from the front considerably more tasks to carry out, for which the number of staff of the archives substantially had to be increased. After the end of war in 1918 the war archive became a civilian institution, to which after the fall of the monarchy have been given masses of new documentary material from previously independent departments and liquidated offices. During the Second World War, the war archive as Army Archives Vienna was a part of the German Army archive organization under the supreme command of the Wehrmacht. After considerable losses as a result of the war, the War Archives in 1945 became a department of the newly created Austrian State Archives. In the years 1991-1993 moved the since 1905 in the Stiftskaserne (barracks) in the 7th District of Vienna housed war archive to the Central Archives building in Vienna III.
The war archive contains about 180,000 document cartons and 60,000 account books on 50 shelf kilometers and is by far the most important military archives in Central Europe. Its map collection with over 600,000 maps and plans is the largest in Austria. There is also a collection of about 400,000 images. The former library of the war archive is one of the most extensive collections of older military historical literature .
The in 22 inventory groups aggregated inventories of the Kriegsarchiv, in their structure these two fundamentally different archiving traditions are reflected to this day, can be broadly divided into five major blocks:
Personnel files of officers, petty officers, crews and officials of the armed forces of about 1740 to 1918; reward acts (1789-1958), so documents on military awards, which the archives of the Military Maria Theresa Order is attached.
Feldakten (combat files) with material on the operations of the imperial or kk Field armies from 16th Century to 1882 (Old Field records and Army files) as well as on 1914-1918 (Army High Command, New field files - Neue Feldakten).
Most High command, main, subordinate and territorial authorities. This group brings together the recordings of major institutions in the entourage of the emperor (especially of the Military Chancellery, the Generaladjutantur (general adjutancy) and the General Staff), the central military services (Hofkriegsrat (Court War Council) 1557-1848, War Office 1848-1918, Ministry of National Defence from 1868 to 1918) and a number of other authorities, institutions and territorial command posts such as the disability Office, the Apostolic field Vicariate, the supreme combat engineer and artillery authorities, the military educational institutions, the military invalids houses and single General and Military command posts in the countries.
Navy and Luftfahrtruppe (air force troup (19th - 20th century)
Collections, which include in particular the maps and plan collection, image collection, the manuscripts and a very important collection of military scripture estates.
The war archive is now a "historical archive". The here kept official written or printed material essentially ends with the collapse of the Austro-Hungarian Empire at the end of the First World War (1918). The collections of the Kriegsarchiv (war archive) on the other hand constantly increase.
Financial and Hofkammerarchiv [ Edit]
The financial and Hofkammerarchiv (Court Chamber archive) arose when in 1945 the previously separately kept inventories of the Hofkammerarchiv and financial archives were merged. The Court Chamber, founded in 1527 was the central financial authority of the Habsburg monarchy. 1848 took over the newly founded Treasury its duties. The archive contains financial records that are especially important for historians. In historical Archive building in the Johannesgasse the Directorate room of Franz Grillparzer is still preserved, working there from 1832 to 1856 as director. With 1st December 2006, the Department of Finance and Court Chamber archive was incorporated into the General Administration Archive. The bulk of the archival material was moved into the central archive building in the Nottendorfergasse.
House, Court and State Archives
The House, Court and State Archives in Minoritenplatz
Board on State Archives
The House, Court and State Archives, Minoritenplatz 1, 1749 by Maria Theresa (1740-1780) was established as a central archive of the Habsburg dynasty. By creating a well-ordered document repository unifiying the hitherto over several sites scattered important House and state documents in Vienna, it should be ensured that the legal titles and rulers' rights of the dynasty in the future were quickly available when required.
Of the today in 11 inventory groups organised inventories of the House, Court and State Archives the following topics have been given priority:
the history of the Habsburg dynasty
the activities of the supreme Court offices and the Imperial Cabinet
Diplomacy and foreign policy of the Danube monarchy
highest Administration and Jurisdiction in the Holy Roman Empire of the German Nation whose imperial dignity the Habsburgs held for centuries almost without interruption until the dissolution of the National Association in 1806.
Worthy of mention furthermore in the House, Court and State Archives deposited ruler and family archives, estates, a manuscript collection, a collection of seal and stamp imprints as well as a plan and map collection.
Showpiece under the "Collections" of the archive department is but unquestionably the document collection formed from different provenances.
Overall, stores the in a 1899-1902 built landmarked Archive functional building at Vienna's Minoritenplatz housed House, Court and State Archives on 16,000 running meters, 130,000 accounting records and document cartons, 75,000 documents, 15,000 maps and plans, and about 3000 manuscripts.
The oldest piece is a document that Emperor Louis the Pious issued in the year 816. The chronological endpoint sets the year 1918. The House, Court and State Archives is among the "historical" departments of the Austrian State Archives, who do no longer grow by receiving documentary material deliveries from the Austrian federal ministries.
The great importance of the House, Court and State Archives for international research is based on the wide geographical catchment area and the variety of its collection. Due to the territorial expansion of the Habsburg rule from the 15th Century and the literally global relations of the dynasty, the here stored archival material encompasses practically all continents.
In addition to the "classical" access of diplomatic and political history, the archive also offers a social and cultural history oriented research rich material.
Restoration workshop
The restoration workshop of the ÖStA belongs alongside those of the National Library and the Federal Monuments Office to the most important restoration facilities for paper, parchment, sealing and bookbindery in Austria.
Significant archivists
Ludwig Bittner (1877-1945), archivist 1904-45
Anna Coreth (1915-2008), Director of the House, Court and State Archives
Walter Goldinger (1910-1990), Director-General in 1973
Lothar Gross (1887-1944), director of the House, Court and State Archives
Joseph Knechtl (1771-1838), archivist 1806-1834, 1834-1838 Director
Hanns Leo Mikoletzky (1907-1978), Director-General 1968-72
Lorenz Mikoletzky (* 1945), Director-General from 1994 to 2011
Rudolf Neck
Kurt Peball (1928-2009), Director-General 1983-89
Gebhard Rath (1902-1979), Director-General 1956-68
Leo Santifaller (1890-1974), Director-General 1945-54
Erika Weinzierl (* 1925), archivist at the House, Court and State Archives 1948-64
Publications
The Austrian State Archives publishes the periodical Communications of the Austrian State Archives (Mösta) appearing in annual volumes since 1948. In addition, archive inventories, supplementary volumes to the communications and exhibition catalogs are published.
Dam Square lies in the historical center of Amsterdam, approximately 750 meters south of the main transportation hub, Centraal Station. It is roughly rectangular in shape, stretching about 200 meters from west to east and about 100 meters from north to south. It links the streets Damrak and Rokin, which run along the original course of the Amstel River from Centraal Station to Muntplein (Mint Square) and Munttoren. The Dam also marks the endpoint of other well-traveled streets, Nieuwendijk, Kalverstraat and Damstraat. A short distance beyond the northeast corner lies the main red-light district, de Wallen.
The station of Villefranche-Vernet-les-Bains (in days gone by, its name was even longer: Villefranche-Vernet-les-Bains-Fuilla) is the eastern terminus of the Train Jaune de Cerdagne and the western endpoint of the normal-gauge tracks from Perpignan. After arriving with the "Canari", guests can continue their journey in a Z2 class EMU like this one, Z 7365 in the elegant Languedoc-Roussillon livery. As TER 77660, it will leave Villefranche at 5:43PM, arriving in Perpignan at 6:31PM. The trip, as do certain others in the Languedoc-Roussillon region, costs 1 euro... Villefranche-Vernet-les-Bains, 22-07-2013.
Dagupan Bedbug reached to the endpoint.
Pangasinan Solid North Transit, Inc. | 1605 | Yutong ZK6107HA fleet by Zhengzhou Yutong Bus Co., Ltd. (China)
🚏 Original / Authorized Franchise Route: Cubao (Quezon City) - Dagupan (Pangasinan)
🕚 Date Taken on April 10, 2022 • 2:46 PM
📍 Photo Shot Location @ Denver St. cor. Maryland St., Cubao, Quezon City
#MacBusEnthusiast #BehindTheBusSpottingPhotography @macbusenthusiastph
#BusPhotography #PangasinanSolidNorthTransitInc #PSNTI
Mangled Mushrooms.
This is part of project inspired by Sliders Sunday which starts with the same image (I'll link it below) and sees what sorts of different endpoints I can get to.
This is one of my more favourite endpoints though you need to see it at size to appreciate it I think. Perhaps it's because it's a more painterly effect (are pencil drawings painterly?).
This was created using Topaz Impression starting with the Da Vinci Sketch Preset and quite a lot of tweaking. The paper texture was concrete (!).
Well I hope you enjoy it, or at least some of the series. Thanks very much for your patience with my foolery and of course for your visit!
slideshow | DT | WADM | 365 dagen project
#157/365 - Balijbrug
Standaardkiekje van de Balijbrug. Ik kon niet echt iets anders bedenken om te fotograferen vandaag. Een motivatieloze dag, dat kan ook weleens gebeuren. Om mezelf wat op te beuren tel ik alvast af naar het eindpunt, nog maar 208 dagen te gaan :-)
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Standard Snapshot of the Balijbrug. I could not really think of anything else to photograph today. No motivation today, which can happen sometimes. To cheer myself up I count down to the endpoint, only 208 days to go :-)
Coming up to our endpoint for today. Mt Lipsett summit was still another km to go. We got this summit once before in June 2015.
Mangled Mushrooms.
This is part of project inspired by Sliders Sunday which starts with the same image (I'll link it below) and sees what sorts of different endpoints I can get to.
This one reminded me of phosphorescence in the ocean night and is one of the most abstract endpoints. On a good day I think you could approach this not knowing its provenance and wonder what it was.
This was created using Topaz Glow starting with the Infusion Preset and little tweaking. I have discovered with glow that the filter works best if you have an original image with repeated shapes and contrasty borders (at least if you are going for some of the more abstract effects) which is what we have here. Basically you need to start in the right place otherwise it looks a mess... well more of a mess anyway lol
Well I hope you enjoy it, or at least some of the series. Thanks very much for your patience with my foolery and of course for your visit!
A castell is a human tower built traditionally in festivals at many locations within Catalonia. On November 16, 2010, castells were declared by UNESCO to be amongst the Masterpieces of the Oral and Intangible Heritage of Humanity.
From endpoint to edge : 72 divisions
Each edge : 144 divisions
The unit of my model rightly resembles the Chinese character of 人 (i.e. human being), and the stacking of 人 is the same as the forming of the castell.
See the castell video, feel the strength of union:
tv.cntv.cn/video/VSET100239633575/069e5c65ca3c4cedb590681...
or this:
Por ellas. Por horas increíbles pegadas a nuestras cámaras. Por risas estúpidas y por hacer el tonto en cualquier parte. Porque son geniales. Porque son unas artistas. Porque me encantan. Porque son cinco grandes motivos para sonreír. Y porque las quiero.
Gracias chicas.
Sign for the MidPoint Café and Gift Shop, 305 Historic Route 66, Adrian, Texas. The Midpoint Café, a restaurant, souvenir and antique shop, bills itself as geographically the midway point between Los Angeles and Chicago on historic Route 66. Signage in Adrian proudly declares a 1139-mile distance to each original US 66 endpoint; the café's slogan is "when you're here, you're halfway there". The café, built in 1928 and expanded in 1947, operated 24 hours a day during Route 66's heyday and is the oldest continuously operating Route 66 café between Amarillo, Texas and Tucumcari, New Mexico.
Its origins can be traced to a one-room, dirt-floor brick café known as Zella's, built by Jeannie VanderWort and leased to Zella Crim. The restaurant changed hands several times. Dub Edmunds and Jesse Fincher acquired the property in 1956, operating it and an adjacent filling station as Jesse's Café until 1976. It became well known for its hot, fresh home-made pies. The café was sold in 1976 to Terry and Peggy Creitz as Peggy's Café; a subsequent owner changed the name to Rachel's. Fran Houser purchased the business, naming it the Adrian Café, in 1990. The Midpoint Café's current name and identity were adopted in 1995 on the advice of travel author and US Route 66 Association founder Tom Snyder. They began selling antiques on consignment by 1997 alongside its "nostalgia food" menu of breakfasts, hamburgers, and the homemade desserts which it calls "Ugly Crust Pies". The term "ugly crust" was coined by Joann Harwell, Midpoint Café's pastry chef, who would create various tasty, freshly baked pies (pecan, chocolate chip, apple, lemon meringue, and chocolate) using her grandmother's recipe, only to lament that the crusts looked better when her grandmother had made the same pies years ago.
Fonte Avatar official FB Page:
A dark, twisted circus sideshow that’s built around bombastically grooving melodic death n’ roll is swinging forward with captivating glee, mesmerizing merriment and the plundering power of lethal pirates toward those brave souls who hand over a ticket to be torn by Avatar and their Black Waltz, the fourth album and first proper American release from the Swedish masters of mayhem.
Within Avatar’s diverse songs, a steady focus on the fluid and organic power of the riff (recalling the thunderous foresight of heavy metal’s original wizards, Black Sabbath) takes flight combined with an adventurous sprit veering off into the astral planes of the psychedelic atmosphere conjured by pioneers like Pink Floyd back in the day.
Avatar has found a footing that combines the best of rock n’ roll, hard rock and heavy metal’s past, present and future into an overall artistic presentation that is thought-provoking, challenging and altogether enchantingly electric. With the grandiose showmanship of American professional wrestling, the snake oil salesmanship of early 20th century vaudevillian troubadours and the kinetically superheroic power of early Kiss, Avatar lays waste to lesser mortals with ease. Whether somebody gets their rocks off listening to Satyricon or System of a Down, they’ll find something suitably deranged here.
“We’re in this weird field, caught in a triangle between extreme metal, rock n’ roll and what can be described as Avant-garde,” confesses Avatar vocalist Johannes Eckerström. The all-enveloping theme park vibe of the band’s music and visual counterpart means that, naturally, “it’s turning into something bigger.”
“I have been in this band for ten years. I grew up in this band,” Eckerström explains. “We’re somewhat veterans on the one hand. But we’re the new kids in the neighborhood in America at the same time.”
Avatar came of age as “little brothers” of sorts of the famed Gothenburg scene that spawned the celebrated New Wave Of Swedish Death Metal. The band’s debut album, 2006’s Thoughts of No Tomorrow, was filled with brutal, technical melodic death metal to be sure but already, “We tried to put our own stamp on it,” the singer assures. While the following year’s Schlacht still contained flourishes of melody, the unrelenting metallic fury reached an extreme peak. “Intensity was very important,” he says, with some degree of understatement.
Where to go for album number three? “We basically rebelled against ourselves,” Eckerström says of 2009’s self-titled collection. “We figured, ‘We can play faster and make even weirder, more technical riffs,’ because Schlacht was cool. But to take that another step would have turned us into something we didn’t want to be.”
Instead Avatar rediscovered their inherent passion for traditional heavy metal and classic rock n’ roll. “We decided to remove some unnecessary ‘look at me, I can play!’ parts and added more groove. We added a whole new kind of melody. It was awesome to be this ‘rock n’ roll band’ for a while. It was refreshing and liberating.”
Black Waltz sees Avatar coming completely full circle, returning to a more aggressive form of heavy metal but incorporating the lessons they learned while jamming on big riffs with album number three. “We finally came to understand what a good groove is all about and what a great fit it was for our sound,” notes Eckerström.
Tracks like the appropriately titled “Ready for the Ride,” the rollicking “Let it Burn” (which dips into some delicious stonerifficness), the anthemic “Smells Like a Freakshow” (a modern day twist of Marilyn Manson and Rob Zombie) and “Torn Apart” are supercharged with a dynamic range of artistic showmanship on a near cinematic scale and it’s all stitched together by a driving bottom end.
While most European metal acts who dare attempt this level of musicianship, showmanship and attention to detail seem content to toil away in the studio and lock themselves away from the crowds, Avatar have excelled beyond their peers thanks in large part to their continued focus on road work. Careening to and fro on tour busses and airplanes around the world like a marauding troupe of circus performers, Eckerström and his mates (guitarists Jonas Jarlsby and Tim Öhrström, bassist Henrik Sandelin and drummer John Alfredsson) have forged the type of musical bond that can only be brought forth from massive amounts of time spent together on the stage, in hotel rooms, in airports and partying at the venue’s bar.
Whether on tour with bands like In Flames, Dark Tranquility or Helloween, playing gigantic festivals like Storsjöyra and Sweden Rock Festival or demolishing South by Southwest, playing live is what it all comes down to for this band. “That is the final manifestation of our art,” Eckerström insists. “Of course an album is a piece of art in itself, but mainly it's a means to reach the higher goal, which is doing these awesome shows. Touring is of the greatest importance.”
“We all just love the pirate’s life,” he admits freely. “Sailing into the city on this tour bus thingy, going to kick some ass, have that party and all the while meeting all of these people, entertaining them, encountering a culture that's not your own. We love that.”
The want for this type of lifestyle goes back to early childhood fascinations for the good-humored singer. Reading about superheroes, watching Hulk Hogan on TV, getting exposed to Kiss – these were the first ingredients for what Eckerström would go on to create with the guys in Avatar and what has culminated now in Black Waltz.
The frontman promises that Avatar will continue to create, to captivate and to experiment. There’s no definitive endpoint in sight. It’s always about the horizon, the journey itself. “As long as you're hungry as an artist, there are higher and higher artistic achievements. I love AC/DC and Motorhead and what they’ve established is amazing, but we don’t want to write albums that are kind of like the album before. We want to travel to a new galaxy, so to speak, every time.”
The goal is always to conquer what came before. “That is what stays with you as a mentally healthy musician. Or maybe a mentally deranged one, I’m not sure,” the singer laughs. And part and parcel to that continued evolution will be the ever broadening expansion of the scope of Avatar’s worldwide presentation: Black Waltz and beyond.
“We have great visions of what we want to do and the things we want to give to people on a stage,” Eckerström promises. “These ideas, these visions, they require a huge audience. They require a lot of legroom to be done, so I want to get into those arenas, basically. I know we would do something really magical if we got the chance. This idea is one of those things that really, really keeps us going.”
Edgar Hall
1015 Philadelphia Ave
Built in 1894
Edgar Hall was named for the Rev. Dr. John Edgar, who was President of the College at the time of its construction. It was built in the summer of 1894, in order to be ready for the College's twenty-fifth anniversary. The architect was John Augustus Dempwolf, of a distinguished architectural firm that designed many valuable Victorian and Edwardian buildings in south-central Pennsylvania and northern Maryland.
The building was designed to be a near twin to Norland Hall; they sit side by side, with a lawn between them. At the time of construction, they provided visual endpoints to a large structure called Main Hall, which was behind them. That building was later replaced by a more modern structure, Macelwain-Davison Hall. A covered walkway connects the rear entrance of Edgar with Davison Hall.
Carpus of Antioch, who regarded it as the interval or space
between the intersecting lines
an angle (in full, plane angle) is the figure formed by
two rays sharing a common endpoint,
not to be confused with Angel
See it here
That was your geometry lesson for today
Geometry
the a part of mathematics concerned with questions of
size, shape, and relative position of figures
and with properties of space.
Fontana di Trevi
A seguir, um texto, em português, do Blog do Noblat:
Nenhuma semana sobre fontes poderia ser feita sem falar na Fontana di Trevi, a linda, a inteiramente diferente de todas as outras fontes. Numa pequena praça, formada pelo cruzamento de três vias, em italiano tre vie, e é daí que vem seu nome, a fonte marca o ponto final do aqueduto Acqua Vergine, um dos mais antigos de Roma.
Reza a lenda que em 19 a.C, uma virgem ajudou os Romanos a encontrar uma fonte de água pura. Essa nascente supriu Roma de água por mais de 400 anos, e isso só terminou entre 537 e 538, quando os visigodos sitiaram Roma e destruíram seus aquedutos.
A reconstrução do aqueduto só terminou em 1453, sob o papa Nicolau V que mandou fazer ali uma bacia em mármore para acolher a água.
Em 1629, o papa Urbano VII pediu a Bernini que embelezasse a fonte; o grande arquiteto começou por mudar o local da escultura: seu projeto a colocava do outro lado da praça e ela ficaria de frente para o Palácio Quirinal, de modo que o papa pudesse apreciar a vista. Mas o papa morreu, o projeto foi abandonado. Ainda assim muitos dos detalhes que Bernini criara foram respeitados pelo arquiteto Nicola Salvi, que assina a fonte.
Em 1730, Salvi recebeu do papa Clemente XII a incumbência de reiniciar a decoração da fonte. Os trabalhos começaram em 1732 e terminaram em 1762, depois da morte de Clemente. A estátua principal, do deus Oceano, só foi colocada após a morte do papa.
O pano de fundo da estrutura é o Palazzo Poli que, para compor o cenário perfeito, recebeu uma nova fachada com colunas gregas que unem os dois andares.
O tema principal é “O Domínio das Águas”. A biga de Oceano, em forma de concha, é puxada por cavalos alados dominados por Tritãos. O nicho do deus é um imenso arco do triunfo; nos laterais estão as estátuas da Abundância e da Salubridade.
No alto, em baixo relevo, a origem dos aquedutos romanos e, acima, as armas de Clemente XII. O conjunto mede 25.9m de altura x 19,8m de largura e é a maior fonte barroca dessa cidade com tantas fontes.
Reza a lenda que ao jogar uma moeda na fonte, está assegurada sua volta a Roma. Se jogar três moedas com a mão direita sobre o ombro esquerdo, você garante sua boa sorte. Parece brincadeira? Cerca de 3mil euros são jogados por dia na Fontana di Trevi!
Esse cenário deslumbrante serviu a Federico Fellini para uma das cenas mais famosas de sua obra-prima, o filme La Dolce Vita. Difìcil alguém que não conheça a cena interpretada por Anita Eckberg e Marcello Mastroianni. Pois bem, quando Mastroianni faleceu, desligaram a água e cobriram a fonte de panos negros. Foi o luto de Roma pelo grande ator.
Um texto, em português, da Wikipédia, a Enciclopédia livre:
A Fontana di Trevi (Fonte dos trevos, em português) é a maior (cerca de 26 metros de altura e 20 metros de largura) e mais ambiciosa construção de fontes barrocas da Itália e está localizada na rione Trevi, em Roma.
A fonte situava-se no cruzamento de três estradas (tre vie), marcando o ponto final do Acqua Vergine, um dos mais antigos aquedutos que abasteciam a cidade de Roma. No ano 19 a.C., supostamente ajudados por uma virgem, técnicos romanos localizaram uma fonte de água pura a pouco mais de 22 quilômetros da cidade (cena representada em escultura na própria fonte, atualmente). A água desta fonte foi levada pelo menor aqueduto de Roma, diretamente para os banheiros de Marcus Vipsanius Agrippa e serviu a cidade por mais de 400 anos.
O "golpe de misericórdia" desferido pelos invasores godos em Roma foi dado com a destruição dos aquedutos, durante as Guerras Góticas. Os romanos durante a Idade Média tinham de abastecer-se da água de poços poluídos, e da pouco límpida água do rio Tibre, que também recebia os esgotos da cidade.
O antigo costume romano de erguer uma bela fonte ao final de um aqueduto que conduzia a água para a cidade foi reavivado no século XV, com a Renascença. Em 1453, o Papa Nicolau V determinou fosse consertado o aqueduto de Acqua Vergine, construindo ao seu final um simples receptáculo para receber a água, num projeto feito pelo arquiteto humanista Leon Battista Alberti.
Em 1629, o Papa Urbano VIII achou que a velha fonte era insuficientemente dramática e encomendou a Bernini alguns desenhos, mas quando o Papa faleceu o projeto foi abandonado. A última contribuição de Bernini foi reposicionar a fonte para o outro lado da praça a fim de que esta ficasse defronte ao Palácio do Quirinal (assim o Papa poderia vê-la e admirá-la de sua janela). Ainda que o projeto de Bernini tenha sido abandonado, existem na fonte muitos detalhes de sua idéia original.
Muitas competições entre artistas e arquitetos tiveram lugar durante o Renascimento e o período Barroco para se redesenhar os edifícios, as fontes, e até mesmo a Scalinata di Piazza di Spagna (as escadarias da Praça de Espanha). Em 1730, o Papa Clemente XII organizou uma nova competição na qual Nicola Salvi foi derrotado, mas efetivamente terminou por realizar seu projeto. Este começou em 1732 e foi concluído em 1762, logo depois da morte de Clemente, quando o Netuno de Pietro Bracci foi afixado no nicho central da fonte.
Salvi morrera alguns anos antes, em 1751, com seu trabalho ainda pela metade, que manteve oculto por um grande biombo. A fonte foi concluída por Giuseppe Pannini, que substituiu as alegorias insossas que eram planejadas, representando Agrippa e Trivia, as virgens romanas, pelas belas esculturas de Netuno e seu séquito.
A fonte foi restaurada em 1998; as esculturas foram limpas e polidas, e a fonte foi provida de bombas para circulação da água e sua oxigenação.
A text, in english, From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia:
The fountain at the junction of three roads (tre vie) marks the terminal point of the "modern" Acqua Vergine, the revivified Aqua Virgo, one of the ancient aqueducts that supplied water to ancient Rome. In 19 BC, supposedly with the help of a virgin, Roman technicians located a source of pure water some 13 km (8 miles) from the city. (This scene is presented on the present fountain's façade.) However, the eventual indirect route of the aqueduct made its length some 22 km (14 miles). This Aqua Virgo led the water into the Baths of Agrippa. It served Rome for more than four hundred years. The coup de grâce for the urban life of late classical Rome came when the Goth besiegers in 537/38 broke the aqueducts. Medieval Romans were reduced to drawing water from polluted wells and the Tiber River, which was also used as a sewer.
The Roman custom of building a handsome fountain at the endpoint of an aqueduct that brought water to Rome was revived in the 15th century, with the Renaissance. In 1453, Pope Nicholas V finished mending the Acqua Vergine aqueduct and built a simple basin, designed by the humanist architect Leon Battista Alberti, to herald the water's arrival.
In 1629 Pope Urban VIII, finding the earlier fountain insufficiently dramatic, asked Bernini to sketch possible renovations, but when the Pope died, the project was abandoned. Bernini's lasting contribution was to resite the fountain from the other side of the square to face the Quirinal Palace (so the Pope could look down and enjoy it). Though Bernini's project was torn down for Salvi's fountain, there are many Bernini touches in the fountain as it was built. An early, striking and influential model by Pietro da Cortona, preserved in the Albertina, Vienna, also exists, as do various early 18th century sketches, most unsigned, as well as a project attributed to Nicola Michetti, one attributed to Ferdinando Fuga and a French design by Edme Bouchardon.
Competitions had become the rage during the Baroque era to design buildings, fountains, and even the Spanish Steps. In 1730 Pope Clement XII organized a contest in which Nicola Salvi initially lost to Alessandro Galilei — but due to the outcry in Rome over the fact that a Florentine won, Salvi was awarded the commission anyway. Work began in 1732, and the fountain was completed in 1762, long after Clement's death, when Pietro Bracci's Oceanus (god of all water) was set in the central niche.
Salvi died in 1751, with his work half-finished, but before he went he made sure a stubborn barber's unsightly sign would not spoil the ensemble, hiding it behind a sculpted vase, called by Romans the asso di coppe, "the "Ace of Cups".
The Trevi Fountain was finished in 1762 by Giuseppe Pannini, who substituted the present allegories for planned sculptures of Agrippa and "Trivia", the Roman virgin.
The fountain was refurbished in 1998; the stonework was scrubbed and the fountain provided with recirculating pumps.
The backdrop for the fountain is the Palazzo Poli, given a new facade with a giant order of Corinthian pilasters that link the two main stories. Taming of the waters is the theme of the gigantic scheme that tumbles forward, mixing water and rockwork, and filling the small square. Tritons guide Oceanus' shell chariot, taming seahorses (hippocamps).
In the center is superimposed a robustly modelled triumphal arch. The center niche or exedra framing Oceanus has free-standing columns for maximal light-and-shade. In the niches flanking Oceanus, Abundance spills water from her urn and Salubrity holds a cup from which a snake drinks. Above, bas reliefs illustrate the Roman origin of the aqueducts.
The tritons and horses provide symmetrical balance, with the maximum contrast in their mood and poses (by 1730, rococo was already in full bloom in France and Germany).
A traditional legend holds that if visitors throw a coin into the fountain, they are ensured a return to Rome. Among those who are unaware that the "three coins" of Three Coins in the Fountain were thrown by three different individuals, a reported current interpretation is that two coins will lead to a new romance and three will ensure either a marriage or divorce. A reported current version of this legend is that it is lucky to throw three coins with one's right hand over one's left shoulder into the Trevi Fountain.
Approximately 3,000 Euros are thrown into the fountain each day and are collected at night. The money has been used to subsidize a supermarket for Rome's needy. However, there are regular attempts to steal coins from the fountain.
The Fonte Gaia ("Fountain of Joy") was built in 1419 as an endpoint of the system of conduits bringing water to the city's centre, replacing an earlier fountain completed about 1342 when the water conduits were completed. Under the direction of the Committee of Nine, many miles of tunnels were constructed to bring water in aqueducts to fountains and thence to drain to the surrounding fields. The present fountain, a center of attraction for the many tourists, is in the shape of a rectangular basin that is adorned on three sides with many bas-reliefs with the Madonna surrounded by the Classical and the Christian Virtues, emblematic of Good Government under the patronage of the Madonna. The white marble Fonte Gaia was originally designed and built by Jacopo della Quercia, whose bas-reliefs from the basin's sides are conserved in the Ospedale di St. Maria della Scala in Piazza Duomo. The former sculptures were replaced in 1866 by free copies by Tito Sarrocchi, who omitted Jacopo della Quercia's two nude statues of Rhea Silvia and Acca Larentia, which the nineteenth-century city fathers found too pagan or too nude. When they were set up in 1419, Jacopo della Quercia's nude figures were the first two female nudes, who were neither Eve nor a repentant saint, to stand in a public place since Antiquity.
The Kennedy Expressway (Chicago) at rush hour ... well, anytime of the day.
From the Wikipedia:
The Kennedy Expressway is a 16 mile (26 km) long highway that travels northwest from the Chicago loop to O'Hare Airport. The Interstate 90 portion of the Kennedy is a part of the much longer I-90 (which runs 3111.52 miles from Boston, Massachusetts to Seattle, Washington). The Kennedy's official endpoints are the Circle Interchange with Interstate 290 (Eisenhower Expressway / Congress Parkway) and the Dan Ryan Expressway (also I-90/94) at the east end, and the O'Hare Airport terminals at the west end. The Interstate 190 portion of the Kennedy is 3 miles long (5 km) and is meant to serve airport traffic. On an average day, over 300,000 vehicles use some part of the Kennedy (2003 data).
From the Chicago Library:
On November 5, 1960, the city's new 16-mile, $237 million Northwest Expressway was opened providing a direct route from the Congress Expressway (later renamed Eisenhower) to O'Hare International Airport.
On November 29, 1963, the Chicago City Council unanimously voted to change the name of the Northwest Expressway to the John Fitzgerald Kennedy Expressway. The act came at 12:37 p.m., one week almost to the minute from the time that President Kennedy had been struck down by an assassin's bullets in Dallas.
A rapid transit line in the median strip of the Kennedy Expressway went into service February 1, 1970, after dedication ceremonies January 30. Expressway median rapid transit is an innovation of Chicago planners and engineers.
Phew.
By request, here’s a quick guide to replicating this on Unix. The one nonstandard tool you’ll need is GDAL, which most package managers know about. You’ll also want something that works with images; imagemagick is fine. Also, we’ll be doing a lot of bulk i/o, so if one of your drives is faster, do this project on it and save several minutes of looking at progress meters. Watch out for Flickr mangling my sh, and tweet at me if you spot bugs.
Part 1: The elevation data
We’ll use CGIAR’s 5°×5° dataset, which is overkill, but that’s how we do. You can use their handy Google Earth layer to find the data cells we need, which turn out to be column 12, rows 2–4 inclusive; 13, rows 2–4; 14, rows 2–4; and 15, row 4. Copying one of the GeoTIFF download links from the KML’s popup, we find we can get them like this:
$ curl -O 'http://srtm.geog.kcl.ac.uk/portal/srtm41/srtm_data_geotiff/srtm_{12_02,12_03,12_04,13_02,13_03,13_04,14_02,14_03,14_04,15_04}.zip'
If you’re willing to give up your data’s chain of custody, you can do a web search for one of the file names and find other sources, some of them faster than KCL.
Unzip the data. You can remove the *.txt, *.hdr, and *.tfw files, so we’re left with 10 GeoTIFFs and nothing else. We merge them into a single GeoTIFF:
$ gdal_merge.py srtm*.tif -o main.tiff
Mine is 843892 kB and has a $(shasum) of 0a3b92fb5ccd60951df6c459aadd167bc397d425.
Part 2: The cutline
If you find a better way of doing this step, leave a comment, because it’s ridiculous. The version presented here is several hours faster than what I originally did, but no less kludgy.
We want the data in MVBCRB. Unfortunately, it’s not an outline (a single ordered sequence of points), it’s a series of several dozen outline segments. Geometrically, it’s a handful of curves in no particular order that happen to share endpoints. But sharing endpoints means we can join them into a single polygon if we’re willing to suffer a little.
Grab the KML version of this that André Coleman put up. It’s relatively cleaned up and saves us some preparation steps:
$ curl -O webpages.charter.net/zeeland/crws.kml
If you look in there (watch out, it’s almost a megabyte), you’ll see that the overall polygon is defined as a bunch of LineString elements, and that the coordinates of these elements happen to be the only lines that start with “-”. So we can extract them like this:
$ grep '^-' crws.kml > linestrings
Super gross but super effective. Now the linestrings file has 65 lines containing point series in the format “lat,lon,ele ”*. Take this and run it like this:
$ python linesplice.py linestrings > cutline.kml
This will join the 65 individual lines into a single line based on shared endpoints. It’s purpose-built around the perfect overlaps of this dataset, so if you use it on anything else, do some fuzzy matching or risk an infinite loop.
Part 3: Rendering
We’ll use gdalwarp to do three important things at once: (1) reproject the data to Oregon Lambert (EPSG 2993), a fairly conservative choice; (2) make the file smaller, because right now it’s 24000×18000 and that’s ridiculous, and (3) mask out everything outside the Columbia River Basin. (I won’t describe all the minor flags I pass the gdal tools; look them up if curious.)
$ gdalwarp -r cubicspline -multi -t_srs EPSG:2993 -ts 8000 0 -cutline cutline.kml main.tiff proj.tiff
We’re on the home stretch. Now let’s do a hillshade image (sun azumith of 200°, vertical exaggeration of 3×):
$ gdaldem hillshade -compute_edges -az 200 -z 3 proj.tiff shade.tiff
This is the first thing we’ve made that’s actually intelligible to look at, so pull it up. It should look correct but bland.
Now some hypsometric tints – Leonardo da Vinci’s most important invention. Make a text file called, say, height.txt and put something like this in it:
3000 255 255 255
1500 10 80 20
500 150 150 100
1 20 100 80
0 0 0 0
The first column is an elevation (in meters) and the next three are the R, G, and B of the color you want that elevation to be. It interpolates smoothly for you. I picked this palette to suggest general land use: floodplain-type stuff down low, then amber waves of grain, woods in the hills, and rock and snow up high. Tinkering with these colors is a lot of fun. Now we make a hypsometry layer:
$ gdaldem color-relief proj.tiff height.txt color.tiff
Now merge the files. You can do fancy stuff with overlay compositing, but a simple average looks pretty good:
$ convert -average shade.tiff color.tiff merged.tiff
Convert will kvetch about TIFF tags it doesn’t recognize, which is fine; we no longer need the georeference data. You might also want to crop the image a bit, since it still reaches the bounding box of all the topo data we downloaded:
$ convert -trim merged.tiff trimmed.tiff
You now have something that differs only in incidental ways like color choice from the above image.
The main things I would do to improve this workflow are (1) find or make a better cutline, (2) handle null data better (look at the mouth of the Columbia – ugh), and (3) cut after hillshading, so the edge of the watershed doesn’t get shading.
If you have improvements – those or others – please comment.
bob dylan won a pulitzer yesterday. in case you're wondering why a singer'd be awarded a writing prize:
"chimes of freedom"
far between sundown's finish an' midnight's broken toll
we ducked inside the doorway, thunder crashing
as majestic bells of bolts struck shadows in the sounds
seeming to be the chimes of freedom flashing
flashing for the warriors whose strength is not to fight
flashing for the refugees on the unarmed road of flight
an' for each an' ev'ry underdog soldier in the night
an' we gazed upon the chimes of freedom flashing.
in the city's melted furnace, unexpectedly we watched
with faces hidden while the walls were tightening
as the echo of the wedding bells before the blowin' rain
dissolved into the bells of the lightning
tolling for the rebel, tolling for the rake
tolling for the luckless, the abandoned an' forsaked
tolling for the outcast, burnin' constantly at stake
an' we gazed upon the chimes of freedom flashing.
through the mad mystic hammering of the wild ripping hail
the sky cracked its poems in naked wonder
that the clinging of the church bells blew far into the breeze
leaving only bells of lightning and its thunder
striking for the gentle, striking for the kind
striking for the guardians and protectors of the mind
an' the unpawned painter behind beyond his rightful time
an' we gazed upon the chimes of freedom flashing.
through the wild cathedral evening the rain unraveled tales
for the disrobed faceless forms of no position
tolling for the tongues with no place to bring their thoughts
all down in taken-for-granted situations
tolling for the deaf an' blind, tolling for the mute
tolling for the mistreated, mateless mother, the mistitled prostitute
for the misdemeanor outlaw, chased an' cheated by pursuit
an' we gazed upon the chimes of freedom flashing.
even though a cloud's white curtain in a far-off corner flashed
an' the hypnotic splattered mist was slowly lifting
electric light still struck like arrows, fired but for the ones
condemned to drift or else be kept from drifting
tolling for the searching ones, on their speechless, seeking trail
for the lonesome-hearted lovers with too personal a tale
an' for each unharmful, gentle soul misplaced inside a jail
an' we gazed upon the chimes of freedom flashing.
starry-eyed an' laughing as I recall when we were caught
trapped by no track of hours for they hanged suspended
as we listened one last time an' we watched with one last look
spellbound an' swallowed 'til the tolling ended
tolling for the aching ones whose wounds cannot be nursed
for the countless confused, accused, misused, strung-out ones an' worse
an' for every hung-up person in the whole wide universe
an' we gazed upon the chimes of freedom flashing.
1964
Well here in 2021 I am now 15 and 12 years out after having both my hips resurfaced by orthopedic pioneer Harlan Amstutz; Dr. Amstutz doing "his" resurfacing on my hips as opposed to the more traditional total hip replacement. Both my hips are working perfectly with no endpoint in sight, and they feel and perform as though they were my natural hips; for me a life with no hip related limitations. Thank you once again, Dr. Amstutz.
Emeritus 1991 Harlan Cabot Amstutz M.D. was born in Santa Monica California on July 17, 1931. After graduating from the John Marshall High School, he went on to UCLA, graduating Phi Beta Kappa in 1953 with a B.A. in fine arts. While an undergraduate he played on the UCLA basketball team. He received his M.D. from UCLA in 1956. He did a rotating internship at LA County and a year of general surgery at UCLA before going to HSS for his orthopaedic surgery residency from 1958-1961. That was immediately followed by two years of military service, serving as Captain in the U.S. Air Force, stationed in Minot, N. Dakota, as Chief of Orthopaedics, Consultant Hospital, for the 862nd SAC Division, Area Veterans and local Indian reservations. This was followed by two years in London, England, the first at the Royal National Orthopaedic Hospital as an Honorary Registrar and the next year as Research Assistant at the Institute of Orthopaedic, also in London. Harlan then returned to HSS from 1965-1970, working at various capacities including Chief of Prosthetics and Orthotics, Associate Scientist, Lecturer and Director of Bioengineering. In 1970, he was tapped for the job of Division Chief of Orthopaedic Surgery at UCLA, taking over for the founding Division Chief, Charles Bechtol, who had served since 1959. Harlan served in that capacity from 1970-1989. From 1975 until 1989, he also served as Chief of Section of Orthopaedics at the Wadsworth VA. He became Emeritus in 1990. From 1991- 2007 he was the Medical Director of the Joint Replacement Institute at Orthopaedic Hospital. He then became the Medical Director of the Joint Replacement Institute at St. Vincent Medical Center in downtown LA. He continued to work on the technologies of metal on metal surface replacements until it closed in 2015.
Harlan Amstutz was the epitome of a true academic clinician-scientist. To his credit, he has authored or co-authored 335 refereed journal articles, over 500 abstracts and 75 chapters. He has over 1000 national and international presentations and 76 invited lectureships, as well as holding 13 patents. He is editor of Hip Arthroplasty, was the author and editor of Hip Resurfacing: Principles, Indications, Complications and Results, and is the editor of Current Status of Metal-on-Metal Hip Resurfacing. In 1996, Harlan was elected to the Royal College of Surgeons of England as an Honorary Fellow (one of only seven American orthopaedic surgeons to have been so honored), and elected in 2005 as an Honorary Member of the German Orthopaedic Society. In 2007 he received AOA-Zimmer Award for Distinguished Contribution to Orthopaedics, and in 2010 he was named Distinguished Alumnus of the Hospital of Special Surgery. In addition, Harlan seems to have been president of about everything: the Orthopaedic Research Society in 1973, the North American Hip Society in 1979, the Association of Orthopaedic Chairman in 1983, the Association of Bone and Joint Surgeons in 1984, the American Orthopaedic Association in 1992, and the International Hip Society in 2000. In 1970, he was an ABC Travelling Fellow, and in 1974, Harlan, along with Mark Coventry from the Mayo Clinic, were the NIH Travelling Exchange Fellows to Russia. He is a six time winner of the John Charnley Award in 1977, 1984, 1990, 1994, 2000, 17 and 2006. In 1979, he was the recipient of the Otto Frank Award for cement fixation of the femoral head in canine surface replacements, and in 1987, along with Keith Markolf, PhD, he received the Nicholas André Award for the UCLA knee ligament testing apparatus for ACL insufficiency.
In his 19-year tenure at UCLA, he established this Division as a dominant presence in bioengineering and joint replacement surgery. There, in collaboration with the Department of Engineering, he started the first PhD program in Biomechanical Engineering. He did the first leg lengthening, established the CEU (clinical evaluation unit) in 1973, and performed the first surface replacement in 1975. In those days it was all about joint replacement. Andy Cracchiolo introduced the Poly Centric Knee replacement, Gerry Finerman designed the Anametric Knee replacement, and we all used the Zimmer T-28 hip replacement system designed by Harlan. There were 4 stem sizes and 3 cup sizes and the cups and stems were cemented. The trochanter was removed 100% of the time (except at the VA where it was forbidden). The Tharies hip surface replacement system designed by Harlan was introduced in 1975. As a brand new R2 on July 1, 1975, I picked up that first patient and scrubbed on the second case. Vibrant and exciting describe those early days for the residents and faculty. In the ‘80s, Harlan introduced the DANA shoulder replacement, “Designed After Normal Anatomy,” to round out the complement of joint replacement systems and technologies.
After an illustrious career as an academic orthopaedic surgeon spanning 5½ decades, Harlan is now retired, but rumored to still be working. He and his wife Patty now have time to enjoy their children, Julie, Mark and Catherine and their second home in Maui. All those who have worked with and for Harlan wish him and his family health and happiness in the years to come. We look upon and remember our professional and social experiences Harlan and Patty as privileged.
Jeffrey J. Eckardt M.D. December 2015
Related photograph www.flickr.com/photos/tellytomtelly/7895343866
Fonte Avatar official FB Page:
A dark, twisted circus sideshow that’s built around bombastically grooving melodic death n’ roll is swinging forward with captivating glee, mesmerizing merriment and the plundering power of lethal pirates toward those brave souls who hand over a ticket to be torn by Avatar and their Black Waltz, the fourth album and first proper American release from the Swedish masters of mayhem.
Within Avatar’s diverse songs, a steady focus on the fluid and organic power of the riff (recalling the thunderous foresight of heavy metal’s original wizards, Black Sabbath) takes flight combined with an adventurous sprit veering off into the astral planes of the psychedelic atmosphere conjured by pioneers like Pink Floyd back in the day.
Avatar has found a footing that combines the best of rock n’ roll, hard rock and heavy metal’s past, present and future into an overall artistic presentation that is thought-provoking, challenging and altogether enchantingly electric. With the grandiose showmanship of American professional wrestling, the snake oil salesmanship of early 20th century vaudevillian troubadours and the kinetically superheroic power of early Kiss, Avatar lays waste to lesser mortals with ease. Whether somebody gets their rocks off listening to Satyricon or System of a Down, they’ll find something suitably deranged here.
“We’re in this weird field, caught in a triangle between extreme metal, rock n’ roll and what can be described as Avant-garde,” confesses Avatar vocalist Johannes Eckerström. The all-enveloping theme park vibe of the band’s music and visual counterpart means that, naturally, “it’s turning into something bigger.”
“I have been in this band for ten years. I grew up in this band,” Eckerström explains. “We’re somewhat veterans on the one hand. But we’re the new kids in the neighborhood in America at the same time.”
Avatar came of age as “little brothers” of sorts of the famed Gothenburg scene that spawned the celebrated New Wave Of Swedish Death Metal. The band’s debut album, 2006’s Thoughts of No Tomorrow, was filled with brutal, technical melodic death metal to be sure but already, “We tried to put our own stamp on it,” the singer assures. While the following year’s Schlacht still contained flourishes of melody, the unrelenting metallic fury reached an extreme peak. “Intensity was very important,” he says, with some degree of understatement.
Where to go for album number three? “We basically rebelled against ourselves,” Eckerström says of 2009’s self-titled collection. “We figured, ‘We can play faster and make even weirder, more technical riffs,’ because Schlacht was cool. But to take that another step would have turned us into something we didn’t want to be.”
Instead Avatar rediscovered their inherent passion for traditional heavy metal and classic rock n’ roll. “We decided to remove some unnecessary ‘look at me, I can play!’ parts and added more groove. We added a whole new kind of melody. It was awesome to be this ‘rock n’ roll band’ for a while. It was refreshing and liberating.”
Black Waltz sees Avatar coming completely full circle, returning to a more aggressive form of heavy metal but incorporating the lessons they learned while jamming on big riffs with album number three. “We finally came to understand what a good groove is all about and what a great fit it was for our sound,” notes Eckerström.
Tracks like the appropriately titled “Ready for the Ride,” the rollicking “Let it Burn” (which dips into some delicious stonerifficness), the anthemic “Smells Like a Freakshow” (a modern day twist of Marilyn Manson and Rob Zombie) and “Torn Apart” are supercharged with a dynamic range of artistic showmanship on a near cinematic scale and it’s all stitched together by a driving bottom end.
While most European metal acts who dare attempt this level of musicianship, showmanship and attention to detail seem content to toil away in the studio and lock themselves away from the crowds, Avatar have excelled beyond their peers thanks in large part to their continued focus on road work. Careening to and fro on tour busses and airplanes around the world like a marauding troupe of circus performers, Eckerström and his mates (guitarists Jonas Jarlsby and Tim Öhrström, bassist Henrik Sandelin and drummer John Alfredsson) have forged the type of musical bond that can only be brought forth from massive amounts of time spent together on the stage, in hotel rooms, in airports and partying at the venue’s bar.
Whether on tour with bands like In Flames, Dark Tranquility or Helloween, playing gigantic festivals like Storsjöyra and Sweden Rock Festival or demolishing South by Southwest, playing live is what it all comes down to for this band. “That is the final manifestation of our art,” Eckerström insists. “Of course an album is a piece of art in itself, but mainly it's a means to reach the higher goal, which is doing these awesome shows. Touring is of the greatest importance.”
“We all just love the pirate’s life,” he admits freely. “Sailing into the city on this tour bus thingy, going to kick some ass, have that party and all the while meeting all of these people, entertaining them, encountering a culture that's not your own. We love that.”
The want for this type of lifestyle goes back to early childhood fascinations for the good-humored singer. Reading about superheroes, watching Hulk Hogan on TV, getting exposed to Kiss – these were the first ingredients for what Eckerström would go on to create with the guys in Avatar and what has culminated now in Black Waltz.
The frontman promises that Avatar will continue to create, to captivate and to experiment. There’s no definitive endpoint in sight. It’s always about the horizon, the journey itself. “As long as you're hungry as an artist, there are higher and higher artistic achievements. I love AC/DC and Motorhead and what they’ve established is amazing, but we don’t want to write albums that are kind of like the album before. We want to travel to a new galaxy, so to speak, every time.”
The goal is always to conquer what came before. “That is what stays with you as a mentally healthy musician. Or maybe a mentally deranged one, I’m not sure,” the singer laughs. And part and parcel to that continued evolution will be the ever broadening expansion of the scope of Avatar’s worldwide presentation: Black Waltz and beyond.
“We have great visions of what we want to do and the things we want to give to people on a stage,” Eckerström promises. “These ideas, these visions, they require a huge audience. They require a lot of legroom to be done, so I want to get into those arenas, basically. I know we would do something really magical if we got the chance. This idea is one of those things that really, really keeps us going.”
Fonte Avatar official FB Page:
A dark, twisted circus sideshow that’s built around bombastically grooving melodic death n’ roll is swinging forward with captivating glee, mesmerizing merriment and the plundering power of lethal pirates toward those brave souls who hand over a ticket to be torn by Avatar and their Black Waltz, the fourth album and first proper American release from the Swedish masters of mayhem.
Within Avatar’s diverse songs, a steady focus on the fluid and organic power of the riff (recalling the thunderous foresight of heavy metal’s original wizards, Black Sabbath) takes flight combined with an adventurous sprit veering off into the astral planes of the psychedelic atmosphere conjured by pioneers like Pink Floyd back in the day.
Avatar has found a footing that combines the best of rock n’ roll, hard rock and heavy metal’s past, present and future into an overall artistic presentation that is thought-provoking, challenging and altogether enchantingly electric. With the grandiose showmanship of American professional wrestling, the snake oil salesmanship of early 20th century vaudevillian troubadours and the kinetically superheroic power of early Kiss, Avatar lays waste to lesser mortals with ease. Whether somebody gets their rocks off listening to Satyricon or System of a Down, they’ll find something suitably deranged here.
“We’re in this weird field, caught in a triangle between extreme metal, rock n’ roll and what can be described as Avant-garde,” confesses Avatar vocalist Johannes Eckerström. The all-enveloping theme park vibe of the band’s music and visual counterpart means that, naturally, “it’s turning into something bigger.”
“I have been in this band for ten years. I grew up in this band,” Eckerström explains. “We’re somewhat veterans on the one hand. But we’re the new kids in the neighborhood in America at the same time.”
Avatar came of age as “little brothers” of sorts of the famed Gothenburg scene that spawned the celebrated New Wave Of Swedish Death Metal. The band’s debut album, 2006’s Thoughts of No Tomorrow, was filled with brutal, technical melodic death metal to be sure but already, “We tried to put our own stamp on it,” the singer assures. While the following year’s Schlacht still contained flourishes of melody, the unrelenting metallic fury reached an extreme peak. “Intensity was very important,” he says, with some degree of understatement.
Where to go for album number three? “We basically rebelled against ourselves,” Eckerström says of 2009’s self-titled collection. “We figured, ‘We can play faster and make even weirder, more technical riffs,’ because Schlacht was cool. But to take that another step would have turned us into something we didn’t want to be.”
Instead Avatar rediscovered their inherent passion for traditional heavy metal and classic rock n’ roll. “We decided to remove some unnecessary ‘look at me, I can play!’ parts and added more groove. We added a whole new kind of melody. It was awesome to be this ‘rock n’ roll band’ for a while. It was refreshing and liberating.”
Black Waltz sees Avatar coming completely full circle, returning to a more aggressive form of heavy metal but incorporating the lessons they learned while jamming on big riffs with album number three. “We finally came to understand what a good groove is all about and what a great fit it was for our sound,” notes Eckerström.
Tracks like the appropriately titled “Ready for the Ride,” the rollicking “Let it Burn” (which dips into some delicious stonerifficness), the anthemic “Smells Like a Freakshow” (a modern day twist of Marilyn Manson and Rob Zombie) and “Torn Apart” are supercharged with a dynamic range of artistic showmanship on a near cinematic scale and it’s all stitched together by a driving bottom end.
While most European metal acts who dare attempt this level of musicianship, showmanship and attention to detail seem content to toil away in the studio and lock themselves away from the crowds, Avatar have excelled beyond their peers thanks in large part to their continued focus on road work. Careening to and fro on tour busses and airplanes around the world like a marauding troupe of circus performers, Eckerström and his mates (guitarists Jonas Jarlsby and Tim Öhrström, bassist Henrik Sandelin and drummer John Alfredsson) have forged the type of musical bond that can only be brought forth from massive amounts of time spent together on the stage, in hotel rooms, in airports and partying at the venue’s bar.
Whether on tour with bands like In Flames, Dark Tranquility or Helloween, playing gigantic festivals like Storsjöyra and Sweden Rock Festival or demolishing South by Southwest, playing live is what it all comes down to for this band. “That is the final manifestation of our art,” Eckerström insists. “Of course an album is a piece of art in itself, but mainly it's a means to reach the higher goal, which is doing these awesome shows. Touring is of the greatest importance.”
“We all just love the pirate’s life,” he admits freely. “Sailing into the city on this tour bus thingy, going to kick some ass, have that party and all the while meeting all of these people, entertaining them, encountering a culture that's not your own. We love that.”
The want for this type of lifestyle goes back to early childhood fascinations for the good-humored singer. Reading about superheroes, watching Hulk Hogan on TV, getting exposed to Kiss – these were the first ingredients for what Eckerström would go on to create with the guys in Avatar and what has culminated now in Black Waltz.
The frontman promises that Avatar will continue to create, to captivate and to experiment. There’s no definitive endpoint in sight. It’s always about the horizon, the journey itself. “As long as you're hungry as an artist, there are higher and higher artistic achievements. I love AC/DC and Motorhead and what they’ve established is amazing, but we don’t want to write albums that are kind of like the album before. We want to travel to a new galaxy, so to speak, every time.”
The goal is always to conquer what came before. “That is what stays with you as a mentally healthy musician. Or maybe a mentally deranged one, I’m not sure,” the singer laughs. And part and parcel to that continued evolution will be the ever broadening expansion of the scope of Avatar’s worldwide presentation: Black Waltz and beyond.
“We have great visions of what we want to do and the things we want to give to people on a stage,” Eckerström promises. “These ideas, these visions, they require a huge audience. They require a lot of legroom to be done, so I want to get into those arenas, basically. I know we would do something really magical if we got the chance. This idea is one of those things that really, really keeps us going.”
On a miserable New Years Day in 1987 (I think) with the flanks of Manod Bach on the left and Llyn y Manod behind that. This seldom used line saw its last train 10 years later. I have never seen a train caught from this view point. The line is leaving the town in a southerly direction and will twist and turn until it gets to its endpoint at the old Magnox nuclear power station at Trawsfynydd. I wish I had done one of the last excursions on this line...
www.recyclart.org/2016/01/recycled-art-interview-9-gabrie...
We continue our series of posts interviewing "recycled art" crafters & artists. This week, we interviewed Gabriel Dishaw, a sculptor we follow since a long time as we love his works mainly made from recycled computer & typewriter parts. If you think you deserve to be featured in the next interview, please, drop us an email.
Tell us a little more about you? Who you are? Where are you from?
My passion for working with metal and mechanical objects has been essential in the evolution of my art. It provides me an avenue to express myself in a way that brings new life to materials such as typewriters, adding machines and old computers – technology that would normally end up in a landfill. My mission is to create dialogue and help find creative, environmentally sound ways of re-purposing e-waste. I was born and raised in Michigan, but now live in Indianapolis, Indiana.
How did you become an Upcycled Artist?
I’ve always been an artistic individual and was enrolled in advanced art classes in school, but I truly found my passion for this particular art form in 9th Grade. My teacher posted 30 art project ideas on the chalk board for us to choose from and make it our own. One of the items listed was “Junk Art.” To be honest, I had no idea what that was so I did a bit of research then went into my dad’s garage and began to tinker. That’s one of those moments you look back on and think had the art teacher not offered that particular project, I don’t know I would have emerged an artist in this genre.
Since when are you working with junk materials and in upcycling in general?
It started in 9th grade so that would be 19 years I have been refining my process. Wow how time fly’s.
Your works are mainly done with recycled electronics & typewriter parts. Could you tell us from where come this choice of materials?
I find adding machines and typewriters to be the most useful when sourcing parts for projects. They have similar elements such as striker keys and gears in duplicate quantities, which makes it easier to create symmetrical designs. Beyond that, I often go to antique shops looking for unique items – something no one in their right mind would buy. As the saying goes, "One man's trash is another man's treasure."
Where did you find your raw materials for your sculptures, are you searching for them or are there coming to you as you are now well known in the recycled art world?
I get them from all over but, mostly from Family/Friends and my local antique/flee markets. I have even had instances where people have dropped stuff off at my door step knowing that I will put good use to some they don't want to see end up in a landfill.
Your pieces of art are very complexes, how long does it take to create one?
Much of that depends on the scale and complexity of the sculpture – and a bit of luck finding the right pieces to the puzzle. Some of my smaller projects can take approximately 40 hours to complete, however, I might have spent several hours simply digging through my bins to locate the hundreds of parts needed to construct it. I pride myself in adding hidden details to each art piece which takes time and is not easily translated through pictures.
On your website, you sell your pieces of art, are you able to live with your recycling art?
I do have a day job, but the plan is to gain financial independence and create fulltime. To me my craft is not work it’s my true passion.
What are your can’t-live-without essentials?
These are in no particular order: Instagram, foredom drill, my I-phone, star wars, audible.com (I really enjoy listening to audio books when I sculpt.), Netflix.
How is your workspace, how do you make it inspiring?
My work space is my converted 2 car garage. Which I have created into a very nice work space with heaters TV, speakers all the amenities I need to stay comfortable and creative. When I get my hands on my supplies (junk) I work to disassemble the piece down to its smallest components I then sort those items with in plastic bins. Just image hundreds of plastic shoe bins filled with electronic parts that my work space.
What sorts of things are inspiring you right now? Where do you look for inspiration?
I get a ton of my inspiration from Instagram there are so many talented people that I follow. Generally I begin a project without any defined plan. Instead, I look for how well pieces work together or how they move and then let those materials drive the color scheme or overall endpoint of where an idea will land, what it will turn into. For instance, the inspiration for one of my horse sculptures, “Rearing Horse,” came to me while taking apart an old adding machine. Some of the pieces reminded me of a horse’s head. The rest just fell into place. For a commissioned pieces, it’s a bit of a different story. The theme is very much inspired by the client, their history and the story to be told through my art.
What is your guilty pleasure?
Craft Beer! I really enjoy an Indiana beer call Gumball Head by Three Floyds Brewery.
What is your favorite thing to do (other than art)?
Playing my Xbox1… I’m really into Fallout4 right now.
What are your tips for people who'd like to start recycling art?
The materials aren’t very hard to find, they are all around us… I would start with just taking things apart and trying to reimagine the parts and pieces as something different. This is a skill you must practice but I get a lot of enjoyment out of the taking things apart. I think it helps to satisfy my curious nature.
To finish, your art clearly show that you’re a big fan of Star Wars, did you liked the last opus?
I loved the new movie it was great! In fact I saw it twice. They definitely made this movie for the fans.
Thanks a lot Gabriel for this interview! :)
To find more about Gabriel:
Lots of cool questions: Ask Me Anything
excerpt:
When it comes to AI, many of us subconsciously cling to the selfish notion that humanity is the endpoint of evolution. In the debates about machine intelligence and genetic enhancements, there is a common and deeply rooted fear about being surpassed – in our lifetime. But, when framed as a question of parenthood (would you want your great grandchild to be smarter and healthier than you?), the emotion often shifts from a selfish sense of supremacy to a universal human search for symbolic immortality.
We'll build an artificial brain before we reverse engineer our own. Evolved complex systems are inherently inscrutable.
A low-riding rack, but still high enough to clear the knobs of a Vittoria Sturdy with room to spare for a fender if you're foolhardy.
The Budapest Castle Hill Funicular or Budavári Sikló is a funicular railway in the city of Budapest, in Hungary. It links the Adam Clark Square and the Széchenyi Chain Bridge at river level to Buda Castle above.
The line was opened on March 2, 1870, and has been in municipal ownership since 1920. It was destroyed in the Second World War and reopened on June 4, 1986. A feature of the line are the two pedestrian foot bridges which cross above it. These were present when the line opened, were removed in 1900 when the castle's garden was extended, and rebuilt to the original design in 1983.
History
The building of the line started in July 1868, the first test run was on 23 October 1869. The Sikló has operated for the public since 2 March 1870. This funicular rail was the second in Europe, only Lyon had a similar transportation system at that time.
During the Second World War the cars and the terminals were destroyed by bombs.
The remnants of the funicular were then dismantled. Replacement with escalators was considered later. Reconstruction of the funicular was decided in 1965, and several plans were made, but the construction works were delayed. A midibus service between the two termini (line "V") was launched in 1975. This was in operation until the line was finally reopened in 1986.
Technical parameters
The line has the following technical parameters:
Length: 95 m (312 ft)
Height: 51 m (167 ft)
gradient: 31.75° (62%)
Cars: 2
Capacity: 24 passengers per car
Configuration: Double track
Maximum speed: 1.5 m/s (3.4 mph; 5.4 km/h)
Track gauge: 1,435 mm (4 ft 8+1⁄2 in) standard gauge
Traction: Electricity
Trip time: 1 minute 30 seconds
Operation
The line is operated by the BKV (Mass Transport Company of Budapest), and operates from 07.30 to 22.00 each day. It is subject to special fare.
Budapest is the capital and most populous city of Hungary. It is the ninth-largest city in the European Union by population within city limits and the largest city on the Danube river; the city has an estimated population of 1,752,286 over a land area of about 525 square kilometres (203 square miles). Budapest, which is both a city and county, forms the centre of the Budapest metropolitan area, which has an area of 7,626 square kilometres (2,944 square miles) and a population of 3,303,786. It is a primate city, constituting 33% of the population of Hungary.
The history of Budapest began when an early Celtic settlement transformed into the Roman town of Aquincum, the capital of Lower Pannonia. The Hungarians arrived in the territory in the late 9th century, but the area was pillaged by the Mongols in 1241–42. Re-established Buda became one of the centres of Renaissance humanist culture by the 15th century. The Battle of Mohács, in 1526, was followed by nearly 150 years of Ottoman rule. After the reconquest of Buda in 1686, the region entered a new age of prosperity, with Pest-Buda becoming a global city after the unification of Buda, Óbuda and Pest on 17 November 1873, with the name 'Budapest' given to the new capital. Budapest also became the co-capital of the Austro-Hungarian Empire, a great power that dissolved in 1918, following World War I. The city was the focal point of the Hungarian Revolution of 1848 and the Battle of Budapest in 1945, as well as the Hungarian Revolution of 1956.
Budapest is a global city with strengths in commerce, finance, media, art, fashion, research, technology, education, and entertainment. Hungary's financial centre, Budapest is also the headquarters of the European Institute of Innovation and Technology, the European Police College and the first foreign office of the China Investment Promotion Agency. Over 40 colleges and universities are located in Budapest, including Eötvös Loránd University, Corvinus University, Semmelweis University, University of Veterinary Medicine Budapest and the Budapest University of Technology and Economics. Opened in 1896, the city's subway system, the Budapest Metro, serves 1.27 million, while the Budapest Tram Network serves 1.08 million passengers daily.
The central area of Budapest along the Danube River is classified as a UNESCO World Heritage Site and has several notable monuments of classical architecture, including the Hungarian Parliament and the Buda Castle. The city also has around 80 geothermal springs, the largest thermal water cave system, second largest synagogue, and third largest Parliament building in the world. Budapest attracts around 12 million international tourists per year, making it a highly popular destination in Europe.
The previously separate towns of Buda, Óbuda, and Pest were officially unified in 1873 and given the new name Budapest. Before this, the towns together had sometimes been referred to colloquially as "Pest-Buda". Pest is used pars pro toto for the entire city in contemporary colloquial Hungarian.
All varieties of English pronounce the -s- as in the English word pest. The -u in Buda- is pronounced either /u/ like food (as in US: /ˈbuːdəpɛst/[50]) or /ju/ like cue (as in UK: /ˌb(j)uːdəˈpɛst, ˌbʊd-, ˈb(j)uːdəpɛst, ˈbʊd-/). In Hungarian, the -s- is pronounced /ʃ/ as in wash; in IPA: Hungarian: [ˈbudɒpɛʃt] ⓘ.
The origins of the names "Buda" and "Pest" are obscure. Buda was probably the name of the first constable of the fortress built on the Castle Hill in the 11th century
or a derivative of Bod or Bud, a personal name of Turkic origin, meaning 'twig'.
or a Slavic personal name, Buda, the short form of Budimír, Budivoj.
Linguistically, however, a German origin through the Slavic derivative вода (voda, water) is not possible, and there is no certainty that a Turkic word really comes from the word buta ~ buda 'branch, twig'.
According to a legend recorded in chronicles from the Middle Ages, "Buda" comes from the name of its founder, Bleda, brother of Hunnic ruler Attila.
Attila went in the city of Sicambria in Pannonia, where he killed Buda, his brother, and he threw his corpse into the Danube. For while Attila was in the west, his brother crossed the boundaries in his reign, because he named Sicambria after his own name Buda's Castle. And though King Attila forbade the Huns and the other peoples to call that city Buda's Castle, but he called it Attila's Capital, the Germans who were terrified by the prohibition named the city as Eccylburg, which means Attila Castle, however, the Hungarians did not care about the ban and call it Óbuda [Old Buda] and call it to this day.
— Mark of Kalt: Chronicon Pictum
The Scythians are certainly an ancient people and the strength of Scythia lies in the east, as we said above. And the first king of Scythia was Magog, son of Japhet, and his people were called Magyars [Hungarians] after their King Magog, from whose royal line the most renowned and mighty King Attila descended, who, in the 451st year of Our Lord's birth, coming down from Scythia, entered Pannonia with a mighty force and, putting the Romans to flight, took the realm and made a royal residence for himself beside the Danube above the hot springs, and he ordered all the old buildings that he found there to be restored and he built them in a circular and very strong wall that in the Hungarian language is now called Budavár [Buda Castle] and by the Germans Etzelburg [Attila Castle]
— Anonymus: Gesta Hungarorum
There are several theories about Pest. One states that the name derives from Roman times, since there was a local fortress (Contra-Aquincum) called by Ptolemy "Pession" ("Πέσσιον", iii.7.§ 2). Another has it that Pest originates in the Slavic word for cave, пещера, or peštera. A third cites пещ, or pešt, referencing a cave where fires burned or a limekiln.
The first settlement on the territory of Budapest was built by Celts before 1 AD. It was later occupied by the Romans. The Roman settlement – Aquincum – became the main city of Pannonia Inferior in 106 AD. At first it was a military settlement, and gradually the city rose around it, making it the focal point of the city's commercial life. Today this area corresponds to the Óbuda district within Budapest. The Romans constructed roads, amphitheaters, baths and houses with heated floors in this fortified military camp. The Roman city of Aquincum is the best-conserved of the Roman sites in Hungary. The archaeological site was turned into a museum with indoor and open-air sections.
The Magyar tribes led by Árpád, forced out of their original homeland north of Bulgaria by Tsar Simeon after the Battle of Southern Buh, settled in the territory at the end of the 9th century displacing the founding Bulgarian settlers of the towns of Buda and Pest, and a century later officially founded the Kingdom of Hungary. Research places the probable residence of the Árpáds as an early place of central power near what became Budapest. The Tatar invasion in the 13th century quickly proved it is difficult to defend a plain. King Béla IV of Hungary, therefore, ordered the construction of reinforced stone walls around the town and set his own royal palace on the top of the protecting hills of Buda. In 1361 it became the capital of Hungary.
The cultural role of Buda was particularly significant during the reign of King Matthias Corvinus. The Italian Renaissance had a great influence on the city. His library, the Bibliotheca Corviniana, was Europe's greatest collection of historical chronicles and philosophic and scientific works in the 15th century, and second in size only to the Vatican Library. After the foundation of the first Hungarian university in Pécs in 1367 (University of Pécs), the second one was established in Óbuda in 1395 (University of Óbuda). The first Hungarian book was printed in Buda in 1473. Buda had about 5,000 inhabitants around the year 1500.
The Ottomans conquered Buda in 1526, as well as in 1529, and finally occupied it in 1541.[68] The Ottoman Rule lasted for more than 150 years. The Ottoman Turks constructed many prominent bathing facilities within the city. Some of the baths that the Turks erected during their rule are still in use 500 years later, including Rudas Baths and Király Baths. By 1547 the number of Christians was down to about a thousand, and by 1647 it had fallen to only about seventy. The unoccupied western part of the country became part of the Habsburg monarchy as Royal Hungary.
In 1686, two years after the unsuccessful siege of Buda, a renewed campaign was started to enter Buda. This time, the Holy League's army was twice as large, containing over 74,000 men, including German, Croat, Dutch, Hungarian, English, Spanish, Czech, Italian, French, Burgundian, Danish and Swedish soldiers, along with other Europeans as volunteers, artillerymen, and officers. The Christian forces seized Buda, and in the next few years, all of the former Hungarian lands, except areas near Temesvár (Timișoara), were taken from the Turks. In the 1699 Treaty of Karlowitz, these territorial changes were officially recognized as the end of the rule of the Turks, and in 1718 the entire Kingdom of Hungary was removed from Ottoman rule.
The 19th century was dominated by the Hungarian struggle for independence and modernisation. The national insurrection against the Habsburgs began in the Hungarian capital in 1848 and was defeated one and a half years later, with the help of the Russian Empire. 1867 was the year of Reconciliation that brought about the birth of Austria-Hungary. This made Budapest the twin capital of a dual monarchy. It was this compromise which opened the second great phase of development in the history of Budapest, lasting until World War I. In 1849 the Chain Bridge linking Buda with Pest was opened as the first permanent bridge across the Danube and in 1873 Buda and Pest were officially merged with the third part, Óbuda (Old Buda), thus creating the new metropolis of Budapest. The dynamic Pest grew into the country's administrative, political, economic, trade and cultural hub. Ethnic Hungarians overtook Germans in the second half of the 19th century due to mass migration from the overpopulated rural Transdanubia and Great Hungarian Plain. Between 1851 and 1910 the proportion of Hungarians increased from 35.6% to 85.9%, Hungarian became the dominant language, and German was crowded out. The proportion of Jews peaked in 1900 with 23.6%. Due to the prosperity and the large Jewish community of the city at the start of the 20th century, Budapest was often called the "Jewish Mecca" or "Judapest". Budapest also became an important center for the Aromanian diaspora during the 19th century. In 1918, Austria-Hungary lost the war and collapsed; Hungary declared itself an independent republic (Republic of Hungary). In 1920 the Treaty of Trianon partitioned the country, and as a result, Hungary lost over two-thirds of its territory, and about two-thirds of its inhabitants, including 3.3 million out of 15 million ethnic Hungarians.
In 1944, a year before the end of World War II, Budapest was partly destroyed by British and American air raids (first attack 4 April 1944). From 24 December 1944 to 13 February 1945, the city was besieged during the Battle of Budapest. Budapest sustained major damage caused by the attacking Soviet and Romanian troops and the defending German and Hungarian troops. More than 38,000 civilians died during the conflict. All bridges were destroyed by the Germans. The stone lions that have decorated the Chain Bridge since 1852 survived the devastation of the war.
Between 20% and 40% of Greater Budapest's 250,000 Jewish inhabitants died through Nazi and Arrow Cross Party, during the German occupation of Hungary, from 1944 to early 1945.
Swiss diplomat Carl Lutz rescued tens of thousands of Jews by issuing Swiss protection papers and designating numerous buildings, including the now famous Glass House (Üvegház) at Vadász Street 29, to be Swiss protected territory. About 3,000 Hungarian Jews found refuge at the Glass House and in a neighboring building. Swedish diplomat Raoul Wallenberg saved the lives of tens of thousands of Jews in Budapest by giving them Swedish protection papers and taking them under his consular protection. Wallenberg was abducted by the Russians on 17 January 1945 and never regained freedom. Giorgio Perlasca, an Italian citizen, saved thousands of Hungarian Jews posing as a Spanish diplomat. Some other diplomats also abandoned diplomatic protocol and rescued Jews. There are two monuments for Wallenberg, one for Carl Lutz and one for Giorgio Perlasca in Budapest.
Following the capture of Hungary from Nazi Germany by the Red Army, Soviet military occupation ensued, which ended only in 1991. The Soviets exerted significant influence on Hungarian political affairs. In 1949, Hungary was declared a communist People's Republic (People's Republic of Hungary). The new Communist government considered the buildings like the Buda Castle symbols of the former regime, and during the 1950s the palace was gutted and all the interiors were destroyed (also see Stalin era). On 23 October 1956 citizens held a large peaceful demonstration in Budapest demanding democratic reform. The demonstrators went to the Budapest radio station and demanded to publish their demands. The regime ordered troops to shoot into the crowd. Hungarian soldiers gave rifles to the demonstrators who were now able to capture the building. This initiated the Hungarian Revolution of 1956. The demonstrators demanded to appoint Imre Nagy to be Prime Minister of Hungary. To their surprise, the central committee of the "Hungarian Working People's Party" did so that same evening. This uprising was an anti-Soviet revolt that lasted from 23 October until 11 November. After Nagy had declared that Hungary was to leave the Warsaw Pact and become neutral, Soviet tanks and troops entered the country to crush the revolt. Fighting continued until mid November, leaving more than 3000 dead. A monument was erected at the fiftieth anniversary of the revolt in 2006, at the edge of the City Park. Its shape is a wedge with a 56 angle degree made in rusted iron that gradually becomes shiny, ending in an intersection to symbolize Hungarian forces that temporarily eradicated the Communist leadership.
From the 1960s to the late 1980s Hungary was often satirically referred to as "the happiest barrack" within the Eastern bloc, and much of the wartime damage to the city was finally repaired. Work on Erzsébet Bridge, the last to be rebuilt, was finished in 1964. In the early 1970s, Budapest Metro's east–west M2 line was first opened, followed by the M3 line in 1976. In 1987, Buda Castle and the banks of the Danube were included in the UNESCO list of World Heritage Sites. Andrássy Avenue (including the Millennium Underground Railway, Hősök tere, and Városliget) was added to the UNESCO list in 2002. In the 1980s, the city's population reached 2.1 million. In recent times a significant decrease in population occurred mainly due to a massive movement to the neighbouring agglomeration in Pest county, i.e., suburbanisation.
In the last decades of the 20th century the political changes of 1989–90 (Fall of the Iron Curtain) concealed changes in civil society and along the streets of Budapest. The monuments of the dictatorship were removed from public places, into Memento Park. In the first 20 years of the new democracy, the development of the city was managed by its mayor, Gábor Demszky.
In October 2019, opposition candidate Gergely Karácsony won the Budapest mayoral election, meaning the first electoral blow for Hungary's nationalist prime minister Viktor Orbán since coming to power in 2010.
Budapest, strategically placed at the centre of the Carpathian Basin, lies on an ancient route linking the hills of Transdanubia with the Great Plain. By road it is 216 kilometres (134 mi) south-east of Vienna, 545 kilometres (339 mi) south of Warsaw, 1,565 kilometres (972 mi) south-west of Moscow, 1,122 kilometres (697 mi) north of Athens, 788 kilometres (490 mi) north-east of Milan, and 443 kilometres (275 mi) south-east of Prague.
The 525 square kilometres (203 sq mi) area of Budapest lies in Central Hungary, surrounded by settlements of the agglomeration in Pest county. The capital extends 25 and 29 km (16 and 18 mi) in the north–south, east–west direction respectively. The Danube enters the city from the north; later it encircles two islands, Óbuda Island and Margaret Island.[18] The third island Csepel Island is the largest of the Budapest Danube islands, however only its northernmost tip is within city limits. The river that separates the two parts of the city is 230 m (755 ft) wide at its narrowest point in Budapest. Pest lies on the flat terrain of the Great Plain while Buda is rather hilly.
The wide Danube was always fordable at this point because of a small number of islands in the middle of the river. The city has marked topographical contrasts: Buda is built on the higher river terraces and hills of the western side, while the considerably larger Pest spreads out on a flat and featureless sand plain on the river's opposite bank. Pest's terrain rises with a slight eastward gradient, so the easternmost parts of the city lie at the same altitude as Buda's smallest hills, notably Gellért Hill and Castle Hill.
The Buda hills consist mainly of limestone and dolomite, the water created speleothems, the most famous ones being the Pálvölgyi cave (total length 7,200 m or 23,600 ft) and the Szemlőhegyi cave (total length 2,200 m or 7,200 ft). The hills were formed in the Triassic Period. The highest point of the hills and of Budapest is János Hill, at 527 metres (1,729 feet) above sea level. The lowest point is the line of the Danube which is 96 metres (315 feet) above sea level. Budapest is also rich in green areas. Of the 525 square kilometres (203 square miles) occupied by the city, 83 square kilometres (32 square miles) is green area, park and forest. The forests of Buda hills are environmentally protected.
The city's importance in terms of traffic is very central, because many major European roads and European railway lines lead to Budapest. The Danube was and is still an important water-way and this region in the centre of the Carpathian Basin lies at the cross-roads of trade routes. Budapest is one of only three capital cities in the world which has thermal springs (the others being Reykjavík in Iceland and Sofia in Bulgaria). Some 125 springs produce 70 million litres (15,000,000 imperial gallons; 18,000,000 US gallons) of thermal water a day, with temperatures ranging up to 58 Celsius. Some of these waters have been claimed to have medicinal effects due to their high mineral contents.
Budapest has architecturally noteworthy buildings in a wide range of styles and from distinct time periods, from the ancient times as Roman City of Aquincum in Óbuda (District III), which dates to around 89 AD, to the most modern Palace of Arts, the contemporary arts museum and concert hall.
Most buildings in Budapest are relatively low: in the early 2010s there were around 100 buildings higher than 45 metres (148 ft). The number of high-rise buildings is kept low by building legislation, which is aimed at preserving the historic cityscape and to meet the requirements of the World Heritage Site. Strong rules apply to the planning, authorisation and construction of high-rise buildings and consequently much of the inner city does not have any. Some planners would like see an easing of the rules for the construction of skyscrapers, and the possibility of building skyscrapers outside the city's historic core has been raised.
In the chronological order of architectural styles Budapest is represented on the entire timeline, starting with the Roman City of Aquincum representing ancient architecture.
The next determinative style is the Gothic architecture in Budapest. The few remaining Gothic buildings can be found in the Castle District. Buildings of note are no. 18, 20 and 22 on Országház Street, which date back to the 14th century and No. 31 Úri Street, which has a Gothic façade that dates back to the 15th century. Other buildings with Gothic features are the Inner City Parish Church, built in the 12th century, and the Mary Magdalene Church, completed in the 15th century. The most characteristic Gothic-style buildings are actually Neo-Gothic, like the most well-known Budapest landmarks, the Hungarian Parliament Building and the Matthias Church, where much of the original material was used (originally built in Romanesque style in 1015).
The next chapter in the history of human architecture is Renaissance architecture. One of the earliest places to be influenced by the Renaissance style of architecture was Hungary, and Budapest in particular. The style appeared following the marriage of King Matthias Corvinus and Beatrice of Naples in 1476. Many Italian artists, craftsmen and masons came to Buda with the new queen. Today, many of the original renaissance buildings disappeared during the varied history of Buda, but Budapest is still rich in renaissance and neo-renaissance buildings, like the famous Hungarian State Opera House, St. Stephen's Basilica and the Hungarian Academy of Sciences.
During the Turkish occupation (1541–1686), Islamic culture flourished in Budapest; multiple mosques and baths were built in the city. These were great examples of Ottoman architecture, which was influenced by Muslims from around the world including Turkish, Iranian, Arabian and to a larger extent, Byzantine architecture as well as Islamic traditions. After the Holy League conquered Budapest, they replaced most of the mosques with churches and minarets were turned into bell towers and cathedral spires. At one point the distinct sloping central square in Budapest became a bustling Oriental bazaar, which was filled with "the chatter of camel caravans on their way to Yemen and India". Budapest is in fact one of the few places in the world with functioning original Turkish bathhouses dating back to the 16th century, like Rudas Baths or Király Baths. Budapest is home to the northernmost place where the tomb of influential Islamic Turkish Sufi Dervish, Gül Baba is found. Various cultures converged in Hungary seemed to coalesce well with each other, as if all these different cultures and architecture styles are digested into Hungary's own way of cultural blend. A precedent to show the city's self-conscious is the top section of the city's main square, named as Szechenyi. When Turks came to the city, they built mosques here which was aggressively replaced with Gothic church of St. Bertalan. The rationale of reusing the base of the former Islamic building mosque and reconstruction into Gothic Church but Islamic style architecture over it is typically Islamic are still visible. An official term for the rationale is spolia. The mosque was called the djami of Pasha Gazi Kassim, and djami means mosque in Arabic. After Turks and Muslims were expelled and massacred from Budapest, the site was reoccupied by Christians and reformed into a church, the Inner City Parish Church (Budapest). The minaret and Turkish entranceway were removed. The shape of the architecture is its only hint of exotic past—"two surviving prayer niches facing Mecca and an ecumenical symbol atop its cupola: a cross rising above the Turkish crescent moon".
After 1686, the Baroque architecture designated the dominant style of art in catholic countries from the 17th century to the 18th century. There are many Baroque-style buildings in Budapest and one of the finest examples of preserved Baroque-style architecture is the Church of St. Anna in Batthyhány square. An interesting part of Budapest is the less touristy Óbuda, the main square of which also has some beautiful preserved historic buildings with Baroque façades. The Castle District is another place to visit where the best-known landmark Buda Royal Palace and many other buildings were built in the Baroque style.
The Classical architecture and Neoclassical architecture are the next in the timeline. Budapest had not one but two architects that were masters of the Classicist style. Mihály Pollack (1773–1855) and József Hild (1789–1867), built many beautiful Classicist-style buildings in the city. Some of the best examples are the Hungarian National Museum, the Lutheran Church of Budavár (both designed by Pollack) and the seat of the Hungarian president, the Sándor Palace. The most iconic and widely known Classicist-style attraction in Budapest is the Széchenyi Chain Bridge. Budapest's two most beautiful Romantic architecture buildings are the Great Synagogue in Dohány Street and the Vigadó Concert Hall on the Danube Promenade, both designed by architect Frigyes Feszl (1821–1884). Another noteworthy structure is the Budapest Western Railway Station, which was designed by August de Serres and built by the Eiffel Company of Paris in 1877.
Art Nouveau came into fashion in Budapest by the exhibitions which were held in and around 1896 and organised in connection with the Hungarian Millennium celebrations. Art Nouveau in Hungary (Szecesszió in Hungarian) is a blend of several architectural styles, with a focus on Hungary's specialities. One of the leading Art Nouveau architects, Ödön Lechner (1845–1914), was inspired by Indian and Syrian architecture as well as traditional Hungarian decorative designs. One of his most beautiful buildings in Budapest is the Museum of Applied Arts. Another examples for Art Nouveau in Budapest is the Gresham Palace in front of the Chain Bridge, the Hotel Gellért, the Franz Liszt Academy of Music or Budapest Zoo and Botanical Garden.
The second half of the 20th century also saw, under the communist regime, the construction of blocks of flats (panelház), as in other Eastern European countries. In the 21st century, Budapest faces new challenges in its architecture. The pressure towards the high-rise buildings is unequivocal among today's world cities, but preserving Budapest's unique cityscape and its very diverse architecture, along with green areas, forces Budapest to balance between them. The Contemporary architecture has wide margin in the city. Public spaces attract heavy investment by business and government also, so that the city has gained entirely new (or renovated and redesigned) squares, parks and monuments, for example the city central Kossuth Lajos square, Deák Ferenc square and Liberty Square. Numerous landmarks are created in the last decade in Budapest, like the National Theatre, Palace of Arts, Rákóczi Bridge, Megyeri Bridge, Budapest Airport Sky Court among others, and millions of square meters of new office buildings and apartments. But there are still large opportunities in real estate development in the city.
Most of today's Budapest is the result of a late-nineteenth-century renovation, but the wide boulevards laid out then only bordered and bisected much older quarters of activity created by centuries of Budapest's evolution as a city. Budapest's vast urban area is often described using a set of district names. These are either informal designations, reflecting the names of villages that have been absorbed by sprawl, or are superseded administrative units of former boroughs. Such names have remained in use through tradition, each referring to a local area with its own distinctive character, but without official boundaries. Originally Budapest had 10 districts after coming into existence upon the unification of the three cities in 1873. Since 1950, Greater Budapest has been divided into 22 boroughs (and 23 since 1994). At that time there were changes both in the order of districts and in their sizes. The city now consists of 23 districts, 6 in Buda, 16 in Pest and 1 on Csepel Island between them. The city centre itself, in its broadest sense, comprises Districts V, VI, VII, VIII, IX and XIII on the Pest side, and I, II, XI and XII on the Buda side of the city.
District I is a small area in central Buda, including the historic Buda Castle. District II is also in Buda, in the northwest, and District III stretches along the northernmost part of Buda. To reach District IV, one must cross the Danube to Pest (the eastern side), where it occupies the northernmost point. With District V, another circle begins, located right in the absolute centre of Pest. Districts VI, VII, VIII and IX are the neighbouring areas to the east, going southwards, one after the other. District X is another, more external circle, also in Pest, while one must jump to the Buda side again to find Districts XI and XII, going northwards. No other districts in this circle remain in Buda. We must retrace our steps to Pest again to find Districts XIII, XIV, XV, XVI, XVII, XVIII, XIX and XX (mostly external parts of the city ), lying almost regularly in a semicircle, going southwards again. District XXI is the extension of the above circle between two branches of the Danube, the northern tip of a long island south of Budapest. District XXII is still on the same circle in southwest Buda, and finally District XXIII is again in southernmost Pest, irregular only because it was part of District XX until 1994.
Budapest is the most populous city in Hungary and one of the largest cities in the European Union, with a growing number of inhabitants, estimated at 1,763,913 in 2019, whereby inward migration exceeds outward migration. These trends are also seen throughout the Budapest metropolitan area, which is home to 3.3 million people. This amounts to about 34% of Hungary's population. In 2014, the city had a population density of 3,314 people per square kilometre (8,580/sq mi), rendering it the most densely populated of all municipalities in Hungary. The population density of Elisabethtown-District VII is 30,989/km2 (80,260/sq mi), which has the highest population density figure in Hungary and one of the highest in the world. For comparison, the density in Manhattan is 25,846/km2.
Budapest is the fourth most "dynamically growing city" by population in Europe, and the Euromonitor predicts a population increase of almost 10% between 2005 and 2030. The European Observation Network for Territorial Development and Cohesion says Budapest's population will increase by 10% to 30% only due to migration by 2050. A constant inflow of migrants in recent years has fuelled population growth in Budapest. Productivity gains and the relatively large economically active share of the population explain why household incomes have increased in Budapest to a greater extent than in other parts of Hungary. Higher incomes in Budapest are reflected in the lower share of expenditure the city's inhabitants allocate to necessary spending such as on food and non-alcoholic drinks.
According to the 2016 microcensus, there were 1,764,263 people living in Budapest in 907,944 dwellings. Some 1.6 million persons from the metropolitan area may be within Budapest's boundaries during working hours, and during special events. This fluctuation in the population is caused by hundreds of thousands of suburban residents who travel to the city for work, education, health care, and special events.
By ethnicity there were 1,697,039 (96.2%) Hungarians, 34,909 (2%) Germans, 16,592 (0.9%) Romani, 9,117 (0.5%) Romanians and 5,488 (0.3%) Slovaks. In Hungary people can declare multiple ethnic identities, hence the sum may exceed 100%.[150] The share of ethnic Hungarians in Budapest (96.2%) is slightly lower than the national average (98.3%) due to the international migration.
According to the 2011 census, 1,712,153 people (99.0%) speak Hungarian, of whom 1,692,815 people (97.9%) speak it as a first language, while 19,338 people (1.1%) speak it as a second language. Other spoken (foreign) languages were: English (536,855 speakers, 31.0%), German (266,249 speakers, 15.4%), French (56,208 speakers, 3.3%) and Russian (54,613 speakers, 3.2%).
According to the same census, 1,600,585 people (92.6%) were born in Hungary, 126,036 people (7.3%) outside Hungary while the birthplace of 2,419 people (0.1%) was unknown. Although only 1.7% of the population of Hungary in 2009 were foreigners, 43% of them lived in Budapest, making them 4.4% of the city's population (up from 2% in 2001). Nearly two-thirds of foreigners living in Hungary were under 40 years old. The primary motivation for this age group living in Hungary was employment.
Budapest is home to one of the most populous Christian communities in Central Europe, numbering 698,521 people (40.4%) in 2011.[136] According to the 2011 census, there were 501,117 (29.0%) Roman Catholics, 146,756 (8.5%) Calvinists, 30,293 (1.8%) Lutherans, 16,192 (0.9%) Greek Catholics, 7,925 (0.5%) Jews and 3,710 (0.2%) Orthodox in Budapest. 395,964 people (22.9%) were irreligious while 585,475 people (33.9%) did not declare their religion. The city is also home to one of the largest Jewish communities in Europe.
Budapest is a significant economic hub, classified as a Beta + world city in the study by the Globalization and World Cities Research Network and it is the second fastest-developing urban economy in Europe as GDP per capita in the city increased by 2.4 per cent and employment by 4.7 per cent compared to the previous year in 2014. On national level, Budapest is the primate city of Hungary regarding business and the economy, accounting for 39% of the national income. The city had a gross metropolitan product of more than $100 billion in 2015, making it one of the largest regional economies in the European Union. According to Eurostat GDP, per capita in purchasing power parity is 147% of the EU average in Budapest, which means €37,632 ($42,770) per capita. Budapest is also among the Top 100 GDP performing cities in the world, measured by PricewaterhouseCoopers. The city was named as the 52nd most important business centre in the world in the Worldwide Centres of Commerce Index, ahead of Beijing, São Paulo and Shenzhen and ranking 3rd (out of 65 cities) on the MasterCard Emerging Markets Index. The city is 48th on the UBS The most expensive and richest cities in the world list, standing before cities such as Prague, Shanghai, Kuala Lumpur and Buenos Aires. In a global city competitiveness ranking by the EIU, Budapest stands before Tel Aviv, Lisbon, Moscow and Johannesburg among others.
The city is a major centre for banking and finance, real estate, retailing, trade, transportation, tourism, new media as well as traditional media, advertising, legal services, accountancy, insurance, fashion and the arts in Hungary and regionally. Budapest is home not only to almost all national institutions and government agencies, but also to many domestic and international companies. In 2014 there were 395.804 companies registered in the city. Most of these entities are headquartered in Budapest's Central Business District, in the District V and District XIII. The retail market of the city (and the country) is also concentrated in the downtown area, among others, in the two largest shopping centres in Central and Eastern Europe, the 186,000 sqm WestEnd City Center and the 180,000 sqm Arena Plaza.
Budapest has notable innovation capabilities as a technology and start-up hub. Many start-ups are headquartered and begin their business in the city. Some of the best known examples are Prezi, LogMeIn and NNG. Budapest is the highest ranked Central and Eastern European city in the Innovation Cities' Top 100 index. A good indicator of the city's potential for innovation and research, is that the European Institute of Innovation and Technology chose Budapest for its headquarters, along with the UN, whose Regional Representation for Central Europe office is in the city, responsible for UN operations in seven countries. Moreover, the global aspect of the city's research activity is shown through the establishment of the European Chinese Research Institute in the city. Other important sectors also include, natural science research, information technology and medical research, non-profit institutions, and universities. The leading business schools and universities in Budapest, the Budapest Business School, the CEU Business School and Corvinus University of Budapest offer a whole range of courses in economics, finance and management in English, French, German and Hungarian. The unemployment rate in Budapest is by far the lowest within Hungary. It was 2.7%, with many thousands of employed foreign citizens.
Budapest is among the 25 most visited cities in the world, welcoming more than 4.4 million international visitors each year,[166] therefore the traditional and the congress tourism industry also deserve a mention, as they contribute greatly to the city's economy. The capital is home to many convention centres and there are thousands of restaurants, bars, coffee houses and party places, besides a full range of hotels. As regards restaurants, examples can be found of the highest quality Michelin-starred restaurants, such as Onyx, Costes, Tanti and Borkonyha. The city ranked as the most liveable city in Central and Eastern Europe on EIU's quality of life index in 2010.
The Budapest Stock Exchange, a key institution of publicly offered securities in Hungary and Central and Eastern Europe, is situated in Budapest's CBD at Liberty Square. BSE also trades other securities such as government bonds and derivatives as well as stock options. Large Hungarian multinational corporations headquartered in Budapest are listed on the BSE, for instance the Fortune Global 500 firms MOL Group, the OTP Bank, FHB Bank, Gedeon Richter, Magyar Telekom, CIG Pannonia, Zwack Unicum and more. Nowadays nearly all branches of industry can be found in Budapest. Although there is no particularly special industry in the city's economy, the financial centre role of the city is strong, with nearly 40 major banks being represented in the city including as well as those like Bank of China, KDB Bank and Hanwha Bank, which are unique in the region.
Many international banks and financial service providers also support the financial industry of Budapest, firms such as Citigroup, Morgan Stanley, GE Capital, Deutsche Bank, Sberbank, ING Group, Allianz, KBC Group, UniCredit and MSCI among others. Another particularly strong industry in the capital city is the biotechnology and pharmaceutical industry. There are also traditionally strong domestic companies in Budapest such as Egis, Gedeon Richter, Chinoin as well as international biotechnology corporations such as Pfizer, Teva, Novartis, Sanofi, which also have R&D and production divisions here. Further high-tech industries, involved in software development and engineering are notable as well. Nokia, Ericsson, Bosch, Microsoft and IBM employ thousands of engineers in research and development in the city. Game design is also strongly represented with headquarters of domestic companies Digital Reality, Black Hole and the studios of Crytek and Gameloft. Apart from the above, there are regional headquarters of global firms such as Alcoa, General Motors, General Electric, ExxonMobil, BP, BT, Flextronics, Panasonic, Huawei, Knorr-Bremse, Liberty Global, Tata Consultancy, Aegon, WizzAir, TriGránit, MVM Group and Graphisoft. There is a base for major international companies including, but not limited to, Nissan CEE, Volvo, Saab and Ford.
As the capital of Hungary, Budapest is the seat of the country's national government. The President of Hungary resides at the Sándor Palace in the District I (Buda Castle District), while the office of the Hungarian Prime Minister is in the Carmelite Monastery in the Castle District. Government ministries are all located in various parts of the city, most of them are in the District V, Leopoldtown. The National Assembly is seated in the Hungarian Parliament, which also located in the District V. The President of the National Assembly, the third-highest public official in Hungary, is also seated in the largest building in the country, in the Hungarian Parliament.
Hungary's highest courts are located in Budapest. The Curia (supreme court of Hungary), the highest court in the judicial order, which reviews criminal and civil cases, is located in the District V, Leopoldtown. Under the authority of its president it has three departments: criminal, civil and administrative-labour law departments. Each department has various chambers. The Curia guarantees the uniform application of law. The decisions of the Curia on uniform jurisdiction are binding for other courts.[172] The second most important judicial authority, the National Judicial Council, is also housed in the District V, with the tasks of controlling the financial management of the judicial administration and the courts and giving an opinion on the practice of the president of the National Office for the Judiciary and the Curia deciding about the applications of judges and court leaders, among others. The Constitutional Court of Hungary is one of the highest level actors independent of the politics in the country. The Constitutional Court serves as the main body for the protection of the Constitution, its tasks being the review of the constitutionality of statutes. The Constitutional Court performs its tasks independently. With its own budget and its judges being elected by Parliament it does not constitute a part of the ordinary judicial system. The constitutional court passes on the constitutionality of laws, and there is no right of appeal on these decisions.
Budapest hosts the main and regional headquarters of many international organizations as well, including United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees, Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations, European Institute of Innovation and Technology, European Police Academy, International Centre for Democratic Transition, Institute of International Education, International Labour Organization, International Organization for Migration, International Red Cross, Regional Environmental Center for Central and Eastern Europe, Danube Commission and even others. The city is also home to more than 100 embassies and representative bodies as an international political actor.
Environmental issues have a high priority among Budapest's politics. Institutions such as the Regional Environmental Center for Central and Eastern Europe, located in Budapest, are very important assets. To decrease the use of cars and greenhouse gas emissions, the city has worked to improve public transportation, and nowadays the city has one of the highest mass transit usage in Europe. Budapest has one of the best public transport systems in Europe with an efficient network of buses, trolleys, trams and subway. Budapest has an above-average proportion of people commuting on public transport or walking and cycling for European cities. Riding on bike paths is one of the best ways to see Budapest – there are about 180 kilometres (110 miles) of bicycle paths in the city, fitting into the EuroVelo system.
Crime in Budapest is investigated by different bodies. United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime notes in their 2011 Global Study on Homicide that, according to criminal justice sources, the homicide rate in Hungary, calculated based on UN population estimates, was 1.4 in 2009, compared to Canada's rate of 1.8 that same year. The homicide rate in Budapest is below the EU capital cities' average according to WHO also. However, organised crime is associated with the city, the Institute of Defence in a UN study named Budapest as one of the "global epicentres" of illegal pornography, money laundering and contraband tobacco, and also a negotiation center for international crime group leaders.
Budapest has been a metropolitan municipality with a mayor-council form of government since its consolidation in 1873, but Budapest also holds a special status as a county-level government, and also special within that, as holds a capital-city territory status. In Budapest, the central government is responsible for the urban planning, statutory planning, public transport, housing, waste management, municipal taxes, correctional institutions, libraries, public safety, recreational facilities, among others. The Mayor is responsible for all city services, police and fire protection, enforcement of all city and state laws within the city, and administration of public property and most public agencies. Besides, each of Budapest' twenty-three districts has its own town hall and a directly elected council and the directly elected mayor of district.
The Mayor of Budapest is Gergely Karácsony who was elected on 13 October 2019. The mayor and members of General Assembly are elected to five-year terms. The Budapest General Assembly is a unicameral body consisting of 33 members, which consist of the 23 mayors of the districts, 9 from the electoral lists of political parties, plus Mayor of Budapest (the Mayor is elected directly). Each term for the mayor and assembly members lasts five years. Submitting the budget of Budapest is the responsibility of the Mayor and the deputy-mayor in charge of finance. The latest, 2014 budget was approved with 18 supporting votes from ruling Fidesz and 14 votes against by the opposition lawmakers.
Main sights and tourism
Budapest is widely known for its well-kept pre-war cityscape, with a great variety of streets and landmarks in classical architecture.
The most well-known sight of the capital is the neo-Gothic Parliament, the biggest building in Hungary with its 268 metres (879 ft) length, also holding (since 2001) the Hungarian Crown Jewels.
Saint Stephen's Basilica is the most important religious building of the city, where the Holy Right Hand of Hungary's first king, Saint Stephen is on display as well.
The Hungarian cuisine and café culture can be seen and tasted in a lot of places, like Gerbeaud Café, the Százéves, Biarritz, Fortuna, Alabárdos, Arany Szarvas, Kárpátia and the world-famous Mátyás-pince restaurants and beer bars.
There are Roman remains at the Aquincum Museum, and historic furniture at the Nagytétény Castle Museum, just 2 out of 223 museums in Budapest. Another historical museum is the House of Terror, hosted in the building that was the venue of the Nazi Headquarters. The Castle Hill, the River Danube embankments and the whole of Andrássy út have been officially recognized as UNESCO World Heritage Sites.
Castle Hill and the Castle District; there are three churches here, six museums, and a host of interesting buildings, streets and squares. The former Royal Palace is one of the symbols of Hungary – and has been the scene of battles and wars ever since the 13th century. Nowadays it houses two museums and the National Széchenyi Library. The nearby Sándor Palace contains the offices and official residence of the President of Hungary. The seven-hundred-year-old Matthias Church is one of the jewels of Budapest, it is in neo-Gothic style, decorated with coloured shingles and elegant pinnacles. Next to it is an equestrian statue of the first king of Hungary, King Saint Stephen, and behind that is the Fisherman's Bastion, built in 1905 by the architect Frigyes Schulek, the Fishermen's Bastions owes its name to the namesake corporation that during the Middle Ages was responsible of the defence of this part of ramparts, from where opens out a panoramic view of the whole city. Statues of the Turul, the mythical guardian bird of Hungary, can be found in both the Castle District and the Twelfth District.
In Pest, arguably the most important sight is Andrássy út. This Avenue is an elegant 2.5 kilometres (2 miles) long tree-lined street that covers the distance from Deák Ferenc tér to the Heroes Square. This Avenue overlooks many important sites. It is a UNESCO World Heritage Site. As far as Kodály körönd and Oktogon both sides are lined with large shops and flats built close together. Between there and Heroes' Square the houses are detached and altogether grander. Under the whole runs continental Europe's oldest Underground railway, most of whose stations retain their original appearance. Heroes' Square is dominated by the Millenary Monument, with the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier in front. To the sides are the Museum of Fine Arts and the Kunsthalle Budapest, and behind City Park opens out, with Vajdahunyad Castle. One of the jewels of Andrássy út is the Hungarian State Opera House. Statue Park, a theme park with striking statues of the Communist era, is located just outside the main city and is accessible by public transport.
The Dohány Street Synagogue is the largest synagogue in Europe, and the second largest active synagogue in the world. The synagogue is located in the Jewish district taking up several blocks in central Budapest bordered by Király utca, Wesselényi utca, Grand Boulevard and Bajcsy Zsilinszky road. It was built in moorish revival style in 1859 and has a seating capacity of 3,000. Adjacent to it is a sculpture reproducing a weeping willow tree in steel to commemorate the Hungarian victims of the Holocaust.
The city is also home to the largest medicinal bath in Europe (Széchenyi Medicinal Bath) and the third largest Parliament building in the world, once the largest in the world. Other attractions are the bridges of the capital. Seven bridges provide crossings over the Danube, and from north to south are: the Árpád Bridge (built in 1950 at the north of Margaret Island); the Margaret Bridge (built in 1901, destroyed during the war by an explosion and then rebuilt in 1948); the Chain Bridge (built in 1849, destroyed during World War II and then rebuilt in 1949); the Elisabeth Bridge (completed in 1903 and dedicated to the murdered Queen Elisabeth, it was destroyed by the Germans during the war and replaced with a new bridge in 1964); the Liberty Bridge (opened in 1896 and rebuilt in 1989 in Art Nouveau style); the Petőfi Bridge (completed in 1937, destroyed during the war and rebuilt in 1952); the Rákóczi Bridge (completed in 1995). Most remarkable for their beauty are the Margaret Bridge, the Chain Bridge and the Liberty Bridge. The world's largest panorama photograph was created in (and of) Budapest in 2010.
Tourists visiting Budapest can receive free maps and information from the nonprofit Budapest Festival and Tourism Center at its info-points. The info centers also offer the Budapest Card which allows free public transit and discounts for several museums, restaurants and other places of interest. Cards are available for 24-, 48- or 72-hour durations. The city is also well known for its ruin bars both day and night.
In Budapest there are many smaller and larger squares, the most significant of which are Heroes' Square, Kossuth Square, Liberty Square, St. Stephen's Square, Ferenc Deák Square, Vörösmarty Square, Erzsébet Square, St. George's Square and Széchenyi István Square. The Heroes' Square at the end of Andrássy Avenue is the largest and most influential square in the capital, with the Millennium Monument in the center, and the Museum of Fine Arts and The Hall of Art. Kossuth Square is a symbolic place of the Hungarian statehood, the Hungarian Parliament Building, the Palace of Justice and the Ministry of Agriculture. The Liberty Square is located in the Belváros-Lipótváros District (Inner City District), as one of Budapest's most beautiful squares. There are buildings such as the Hungarian National Bank, the embassy of the United States, the Stock Exchange Palace, as well as numerous statues and monuments such as the Soviet War Memorial, the Statue of Ronald Reagan or the controversial Monument to the victims of the German occupation. In the St. Stephen's Square is the St. Stephen's Basilica, the square is connected by a walking street, the Zrínyi Street, to the Széchenyi István Square at the foot of The Chain Bridge. The Hungarian Academy of Sciences and the Gresham Palace and the Ministry of Interior are also located here. Deák Ferenc Square is a central square of the capital, a major transport hub, where three Budapest subways meet. Here is the oldest and best known Evangelical Church of Budapest, the Deák Ferenc Square Lutheran Church. Vörösmarty Square is located in Belváros-Lipótváros District (Inner City District) behind the Vigadó of Pest as one of the endpoints of Váci Street. The Confectionery Gerbeaud is here, and the annual Christmas Fair is held in the Square, as well as is the centre of the Holiday Book Week.
Budapest has many municipal parks and most have playgrounds for children and seasonal activities like skating in the winter and boating in the summer. Access from the city center is quick and easy with the Millennium Underground. Budapest has a complex park system, with various lands operated by the Budapest City Gardening Ltd. The wealth of greenspace afforded by Budapest's parks is further augmented by a network of open spaces containing forest, streams, and lakes that are set aside as natural areas which lie not far from the inner city, including the Budapest Zoo and Botanical Garden (established in 1866) in the City Park. The most notable and popular parks in Budapest are the City Park which was established in 1751 (302 acres) along with Andrássy Avenue, the Margaret Island in the Danube (238 acres or 96 hectares), the People's Park, the Római Part, and the Kopaszi Dam.
The Buda Hills also offer a variety of outdoor activities and views. A place frequented by locals is Normafa, offering activities for all seasons. With a modest ski run, it is also used by skiers and snowboarders – if there is enough snowfall in winter.
A number of islands can be found on the Danube in Budapest:
Margaret Island (Hungarian: Margit-sziget [ˈmɒrɡit.siɡɛt]) is a 2.5 km (1.6 mi) long island and 0.965 square kilometres (238 acres) in area. The island mostly consists of a park and is a popular recreational area for tourists and locals alike. The island lies between Margaret Bridge (south) and Árpád Bridge (north). Dance clubs, swimming pools, an aqua park, athletic and fitness centres, bicycle and running tracks can be found around the Island. During the day the island is occupied by people doing sports, or just resting. In the summer (generally on the weekends) mostly young people go to the island at night to party on its terraces, or to recreate with a bottle of alcohol on a bench or on the grass (this form of entertainment is sometimes referred to as bench-partying).
Csepel Island (Hungarian: Csepel-sziget [ˈt͡ʃɛpɛlsiɡɛt]) is the largest island of the River Danube in Hungary. It is 48 km (30 mi) long; its width is 6 to 8 km (4 to 5 mi) and its area comprises 257 km2 (99 sq mi). However, only the northern tip of the island is inside the city limits.
Hajógyári Island (Hungarian: Hajógyári-sziget [ˈhɒjoːɟaːrisiɡɛt]), also known as Óbuda Island (Hungarian: Óbudai-sziget), is a human-made island located in the third district. This island hosts many activities such as: wake-boarding, jet-skiing during the day, and dance clubs during the night. This is the island where the famous Sziget Festival takes place, hosting hundreds of performances per year. Around 400,000 visitors attended the last festival. Many building projects are taking place to make this island into one of the biggest entertainment centres of Europe. The plan is to build apartment buildings, hotels, casinos and a marina.
Molnár Island [hu] (Hungarian: Molnár-sziget) is an island in the channel of the Danube that separates Csepel Island from the east bank of the river.
The islands of Palotai Island [hu], Nép Island [hu], and Háros Island [hu] also formerly existed within the city, but have been joined to the mainland.
The Ínség Rock [hu] (Hungarian: Ínség-szikla) is a reef in the Danube close to the shore under the Gellért Hill. It is only exposed during drought periods when the river level is very low.
Just outside the city boundary to the north lies the large Szentendre Island (Hungarian: Szentendrei-sziget) and the much smaller Lupa Island (Hungarian: Lupa-sziget).
One of the reasons the Romans first colonised the area immediately to the west of the River Danube and established their regional capital at Aquincum (now part of Óbuda, in northern Budapest) is so that they could use and enjoy the thermal springs. There are still ruins visible today of the enormous baths that were built during that period. The new baths that were constructed during the Turkish period (1541–1686) served both bathing and medicinal purposes, and some of these are still in use to this day.
Budapest gained its reputation as a city of spas in the 1920s, following the first realisation of the economic potential of the thermal waters in drawing in visitors. Indeed, in 1934 Budapest was officially ranked as a "City of Spas". Today, the baths are mostly frequented by the older generation, as, with the exception of the "Magic Bath" and "Cinetrip" water discos, young people tend to prefer the lidos which are open in the summer.
Construction of the Király Baths started in 1565, and most of the present-day building dates from the Turkish period, including most notably the fine cupola-topped pool.
The Rudas Baths are centrally placed – in the narrow strip of land between Gellért Hill and the River Danube – and also an outstanding example of architecture dating from the Turkish period. The central feature is an octagonal pool over which light shines from a 10 metres (33 ft) diameter cupola, supported by eight pillars.
The Gellért Baths and Hotel were built in 1918, although there had once been Turkish baths on the site, and in the Middle Ages a hospital. In 1927, the Baths were extended to include the wave pool, and the effervescent bath was added in 1934. The well-preserved Art Nouveau interior includes colourful mosaics, marble columns, stained glass windows and statues.
The Lukács Baths are also in Buda and are also Turkish in origin, although they were only revived at the end of the 19th century. This was also when the spa and treatment centre were founded. There is still something of an atmosphere of fin-de-siècle about the place, and all around the inner courtyard there are marble tablets recalling the thanks of patrons who were cured there. Since the 1950s it has been regarded as a centre for intellectuals and artists.
The Széchenyi Baths are one of the largest bathing complexes in all Europe, and the only "old" medicinal baths to be found in the Pest side of the city. The indoor medicinal baths date from 1913 and the outdoor pools from 1927. There is an atmosphere of grandeur about the whole place with the bright, largest pools resembling aspects associated with Roman baths, the smaller bath tubs reminding one of the bathing culture of the Greeks, and the saunas and diving pools borrowed from traditions emanating in northern Europe. The three outdoor pools (one of which is a fun pool) are open all year, including winter. Indoors there are over ten separate pools, and a whole host of medical treatments is also available. The Szécheny Baths are built in modern Renaissance style.
The culture of Budapest is reflected by Budapest's size and variety. Most Hungarian cultural movements first emerged in the city. Budapest is an important center for music, film, theatre, dance and visual art. Artists have been drawn into the city by opportunity, as the city government funds the arts with adequate financial resources. Budapest is the headquarters of the Hungarian LGBT community.
Budapest was named "City of Design" in December 2015 and has been a member of UNESCO Creative Cities Network since then.
Budapest is packed with museums and galleries. The city glories in 223 museums and galleries, which presents several memories, next to the Hungarian ones as well those of universal and European culture and science. Here are the greatest examples among them: the Hungarian National Museum, the Hungarian National Gallery, the Museum of Fine Arts (where can see the pictures of Hungarian painters, like Victor Vasarely, Mihály Munkácsy and a great collection about Italian art, Dutch art, Spanish art and British art from before the 19th century and French art, British art, German art, Austrian art after the 19th century), the House of Terror, the Budapest Historical Museum, the Aquincum Museum, the Semmelweis Museum of Medical History, the Memento Park, Museum of Applied Arts and the contemporary arts exhibition Palace of Arts Budapest. In Budapest there are 837 monuments, which represent the most of the European artistic style. The classical and unique Hungarian Art Nouveau buildings are prominent.
A lot of libraries have unique collections in Budapest, such as the National Széchényi Library, which keeps historical relics from the age before the printing of books. The Metropolitan Szabó Ervin Library plays an important role in the general education of the capital's population. Other libraries: The Library of the Hungarian Academy of Sciences, Eötvös University Library, the Parliamentary Library, Library of the Hungarian Central Statistical Office and the National Library of Foreign Literature.
In Budapest there are forty theatres, seven concert halls and an opera house Outdoor festivals, concerts and lectures enrich the cultural offer of summer, which are often held in historical buildings. The largest theatre facilities are the Budapest Operetta and Musical Theatre, the József Attila Theatre, the Katona József Theatre, the Madách Theatre, the Hungarian State Opera House, the National Theatre, the Vigadó Concert Hall, Radnóti Miklós Theatre, the Comedy Theatre and the Palace of Arts, known as MUPA. The Budapest Opera Ball is an annual Hungarian society event taking place in the building of the Budapest Opera (Operaház) on the last Saturday of the carnival season, usually late February.
There are 11 casinos in Hungary (11 is the maximum number of casinos allowed by law), and five of them are located in the capital. All five of these casinos are owned by LVC Diamond Játékkaszinó Üzemeltető Kft, the gambling company of late Vajna András (better known as Andy Vajna). The biggest casino in Budapest and in all of Hungary is the Las Vegas Casino Corvin sétány.
Several annual festivals take place in Budapest. The Sziget Festival is one of the largest outdoor music festival in Europe. The Budapest Spring Festival includes concerts at several venues across the city. The Café Budapest Contemporary Arts Festival (formerly the Budapest Autumn Festival) brings free music, dance, art, and other cultural events to the streets of the city. The Budapest Wine Festival and Budapest Pálinka Festival, occurring each May, are gastronomy festivals focusing on culinary pleasures. The Budapest Pride (or Budapest Pride Film and Cultural Festival) occurs annually across the city, and usually involves a parade on the Andrássy Avenue. Other festivals include the Budapest Fringe Festival, which brings more than 500 artists in about 50 shows to produce a wide range of works in alternative theat
La Fontana di Trevi è la più grande ed una fra le più note Fontane di Roma, ed è considerata all'unanimità una delle più celebri fontane del mondo.
La settecentesca fontana, progettata da Nicolò Salvi, è un connubio di classicismo e barocco adagiato su un lato di Palazzo Poli.
La storia della fontana inizia, in un certo senso, ai tempi dell'imperatore Augusto, quando il genero Agrippa fece arrivare l'acqua corrente fino al Pantheon ed alle sue terme grazie alla costruzione dell'acquedotto Vergine (che si può ammirare anche a Piazza del Popolo). Leggendaria è l'origine del nome Vergine che, secondo Frontino, sarebbe stato dato dallo stesso Agrippa in ricordo di una fanciulla (in latino virgo) che indicò il luogo delle sorgenti ai soldati che ne andavano in cerca.
L'Acquedotto dell'acqua Vergine, benché compromesso e assai ridotto nella portata dall'assedio dei Goti di Vitige nel 537, rimase in uso per tutto il medioevo: fu restaurato già dall'VIII secolo, poi ancora dal Comune nel XII e da Niccolò V e Paolo IV a metà del XV secolo, quando l'acqua tornò a fluire abbondante in una grande vasca con tre bocche di notevole portata. Ma le sorgenti originarie furono riallacciate solo nel 1570 da Pio V, che collocò la vasca dal lato opposto di quello della fontana attuale.
Papa Urbano VIII (Barberini) (1623 - 1644) per primo ordina una "trasformazione" della piazza e della fontana a Giovan Lorenzo Bernini, in modo da creare un nuovo nucleo scenografico vicino al proprio palazzo famigliare, Palazzo Barberini, e ben visibile dal Palazzo del Quirinale, sua residenza. Bernini progetta una grande mostra d'acqua, ribaltando ortogonalmente la mostra dell'acquedotto, sino ad arrivare all'allineamento odierno. La mostra da lui progettata, nota da varia documentazione illustrata, era costituita da un'architettura traforata,incentrata sulla statua della vergine Trivia posta su un basamento sotto il livello dell'acqua, a sembrare sbucare dall'acqua stessa. La morte del Papa e il conseguente processo aperto contro la famiglia Barberini dal nuovo pontefice Innocenzo X Pamphilj con la decisione di affidare al Borromini il trasporto dell'acqua Vergine sino a Piazza Navona per realizzare una nuova mostra monumentale dinanzi al proprio palazzo (realizzata per altro sempre dal Bernini), porterà a interrompere lavori a livello della vasca e basamento.
Papa Innocenzo XIII (Conti) (1721- 1724) fa allargare le proprietà della propria famiglia fino alla piazza di Trevi, e il palazzo Poli (i componenti della famiglia erano i duchi di Poli) "ingloba" diversi edifici più piccoli, ed arriva ad affacciarsi dietro alla fontana rimasta incompiuta.
All'inizio del XVIII secolo quello della fontana di Trevi diventa un tema obbligato per i numerosi architetti di passaggio a Roma, e l'Accademia di san Luca ne fa il tema di diversi concorsi. Si conoscono disegni e pensieri di Nicola Michetti, Luigi Vanvitelli, Ferdinando Fuga ed altri architetti italiani e stranieri.
Tocca a Papa Clemente XII Corsini (1730 - 1740), nel 1731, il compito di riprendere in mano le sorti della piazza e della fontana: nell'ambito delle grandi commissioni del suo Pontificato che porteranno al completamento di grandi fabbriche rimaste incompiute, bandisce un importante concorso per la costruzione di una grande mostra d'acqua che occupi l'intera facciata del palazzo Poli, con grande disappunto dei duchi di Poli, ancora proprietari dell'edificio, che avrebbero visto la facciata del proprio palazzo diminuita di due interassi di finestre e ancor più coronata dallo stemma Corsini. Il bando viene vinto da Nicolò Salvi, e alcuni diranno a "riparazione" del concorso per la facciata di San Giovanni in Laterano. Salvi inizia la costruzione della fontana nel 1732, impostando l'opera secondo un progetto che raccorda influenze barocche e ancor più berniniane al nuovo monumentalismo classicista che caratterizzerà tutto il pontificato di Clemente XII. Egli riprende l'idea di fondo di Urbano VIII e di Bernini, l'idea di narrare, tramite architettura e scultura insieme, la storia dell'Acqua Vergine.
Papa Clemente XII inaugura la fontana nel 1735, con i lavori ancora in corso. Nel 1740, però, la costruzione viene ancora una volta interrotta, per riprendere solo due anni più tardi.
Papa Benedetto XIV (Lambertini) (1740 - 1758) pretende una seconda inaugurazione nel 1744. La prima fase dei lavori termina nel 1747, quando vengono completate le statue e le rocce posticce. Nonostante la morte di Niccolò Salvi (1751), la costruzione prosegue sotto la guida di Giuseppe Panini, che porta finalmente l'opera a compimento nel 1762, sotto Papa Clemente XIII (Rezzonico) (1758 - 1769). Al cantiere, andato avanti per circa un trentennio, hanno lavorato almeno dieci scultori, da Maini a Bracci, oltre al Salvi e al Panini stessi. Alla fine, però, la fontana di Trevi diventa una scenografia e simbolo fondamentale della Roma papale.
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A Fontana di Trevi (Fonte dos trevos, em português) é a maior (cerca de 26 metros de altura e 20 metros de largura) e mais ambiciosa construção de fontes barrocas da Itália e está localizada na rione Trevi, em Roma.
A fonte situava-se no cruzamento de três estradas (tre vie), marcando o ponto final do Acqua Vergine, um dos mais antigos aquedutos que abasteciam a cidade de Roma. No ano 19 a.C., supostamente ajudados por uma virgem, técnicos romanos localizaram uma fonte de água pura a pouco mais de 22 quilômetros da cidade (cena representada em escultura na própria fonte, atualmente). A água desta fonte foi levada pelo menor aqueduto de Roma, diretamente para os banheiros de Marcus Vipsanius Agrippa e serviu a cidade por mais de 400 anos.
O "golpe de misericórdia" desferido pelos invasores godos em Roma foi dado com a destruição dos aquedutos, durante as Guerras Góticas. Os romanos durante a Idade Média tinham de abastecer-se da água de poços poluídos, e da pouco límpida água do rio Tibre, que também recebia os esgotos da cidade.
O antigo costume romano de erguer uma bela fonte ao final de um aqueduto que conduzia a água para a cidade foi reavivado no século XV, com a Renascença. Em 1453, o Papa Nicolau V, determinou que fosse consertado o aqueduto de Acqua Vergine, construindo ao seu final um simples receptáculo para receber a água, num projeto feito pelo arquiteto humanista Leon Battista Alberti.
Em 1629, o Papa Urbano VIII achou que a velha fonte era insuficientemente dramática e encomendou a Bernini alguns desenhos, mas quando o Papa faleceu o projeto foi abandonado. A última contribuição de Bernini foi reposicionar a fonte para o outro lado da praça a fim de que esta ficasse defronte ao Palácio do Quirinal (assim o Papa poderia vê-la e admirá-la de sua janela). Ainda que o projeto de Bernini tenha sido abandonado, existem na fonte muitos detalhes de sua idéia original.
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The Trevi Fountain (Italian: Fontana di Trevi) is a fountain in the Trevi rione in Rome, Italy. Standing 25.9 meters (85 feet) high and 19.8 meters (65 feet) wide,[citation needed] it is the largest Baroque fountain in the city, and it is one of the most famous fountains in the whole world.
The fountain at the junction of three roads (tre vie) marks the terminal point of the "modern" Acqua Vergine, the revived Aqua Virgo, one of the ancient aqueducts that supplied water to ancient Rome. In 19 BC, supposedly with the help of a virgin, Roman technicians located a source of pure water some 13 km (8 miles) from the city. (This scene is presented on the present fountain's façade.) However, the eventual indirect route of the aqueduct made its length some 22 km (14 miles). This Aqua Virgo led the water into the Baths of Agrippa. It served Rome for more than four hundred years.The coup de grâce for the urban life of late classical Rome came when the Goth besiegers in 537/38 broke the aqueducts. Medieval Romans were reduced to drawing water from polluted wells and the Tiber River, which was also used as a sewer.
The Roman custom of building a handsome fountain at the endpoint of an aqueduct that brought water to Rome was revived in the 15th century, with the Renaissance. In 1453, Pope Nicholas V finished mending the Acqua Vergine aqueduct and built a simple basin, designed by the humanist architect Leon Battista Alberti, to herald the water's arrival
about 50 Hong Kong Protestors gathered in the Victoria Park before the rally , each wearing a different head mask representing a different message of the Hong Kong Protest movement.
raising of the hands with 5 fingers representing "5 demands not one less"
The Blue Lihkg Pig reminds that the police had shot blue tear-inducing chemical from the water cannon truck in dispersing the crowds. The police declined to disclose the chemcial composition.
www.hongkongfp.com/2019/10/25/greenpeace-questions-hong-k...
********
‘Resist tyranny, join a union’: Huge turnout as Hongkongers hit the streets for New Year’s Day protest
Thousands of Hongkongers took to the streets on Wednesday for the first police-approved mass protest of the new year.
The huge turnout built on a continuing a pro-democracy movement that has reached each corner of the city over the past seven months.
The march received a letter of no objection from the police, and began at around 2:40pm in Victoria Park in Causeway Bay.
The front of the march reached the endpoint at the Chater Road Pedestrian Precinct in Central just after 4pm.
In addition to the five core demands of the movement, protesters on Wednesday also called for increased union participation, supporting the victims of political reprisals, and halting a proposed pay rise for the police.
Protesters chanted slogans such as “Five demands, not one less,” as well as new additions such as “Resist tyranny, join a union.”
Those at the head of the march included some newly-elected pro-democracy district councillors – whose term in office began on January 1.
A group outside Victoria Park were rallying Hongkongers to register to vote: “We want to use our vote to tell the Hong Kong government what we want… We want the people to come out again and win at the Legislative Council election [in September],” Ms Oliver told HKFP, following the pro-democracy camp’s victory at last year District Council elections.
Though the extradition bill – which sparked the movement – was axed, demonstrators are still demanding an independent probe into police behaviour, amnesty for those arrested, universal suffrage and a halt to the characterisation of protests as “riots.”
In a statement, march organisers the Civil Human Rights Front (CHRF) called on the public to be “more united, persistent, and caring of one another” in the coming year.
“In 2020, the police have already fired the first round of tear gas,” the group wrote shortly after midnight. “Carrie Lam and police brutality turned a festive season into anguish, and perhaps we should say ‘Five demands, not one less’ instead of happy new year.”
In a statement later on Wednesday, the Front said the police had taken no responsibility for any misconduct: “They dehumanise protestors as cockroaches, demean journalists as “black reporters” and arrest medical doctors and nurses as rioters. Now, the government even attempts to increase the salaries of these rioting police.”
“We must persist this fight, for the arrested, injured and departed brothers and sisters in this movement. When victory comes, we shall gather at the dawn,” they added.
During the march, Ms Ho of the Construction Site Workers General Union said they had over 10,000 signed-up members and around 100 active members: “It is a union that already exists, but now we are recruiting more workers with the same political stance,” she said.
“We aim for three targets. The first one, we want to defend our own worker’s rights… We want to get the right to vote in the coming legislative election [as a functional constituency]… The third aim – we are trying to use construction workers’ role in this movement – for example, volunteer teams for people in need – trying to prepare for the general strike.”.....
www.hongkongfp.com/2020/01/01/resist-tyranny-join-union-h...
民陣今日（1日）舉行「毋忘承諾，並肩同行」 元旦大遊行。在預定起步時間2時，銅鑼灣東角道已聚集大量等待插隊的民眾，亦有不少市民支持黃色經濟圈，黃店「渣哥」有逾百人排隊光顧。
Mangled Mushrooms.
This is part of project inspired by Sliders Sunday which starts with the same image (I'll link it below) and sees what sorts of different endpoints I can get to.
I like the abstraction on this one and the ethereal feel, hence the title. It's like a phalanx of angels in flight (OK, what is the group noun for angels??).
This was created using Topaz Glow starting with one of the Vibrations Presets and little tweaking. I added a slight dark vignette and enriched the colour saturation - I was intrigued by the neon grass :)
Well I hope you enjoy it, or at least some of the series. Thanks very much for your patience with my foolery and of course for your visit!
about 50 Hong Kong Protestors gathered in the Victoria Park before the rally , each wearing a different head mask representing a different message of the Hong Kong Protest movement.
raising of the hands with 5 fingers representing "5 demands not one less"
The Blue Lihkg Pig and blue pepe the frog reminds that the police had shot blue tear-inducing chemical from the water cannon truck in dispersing the crowds. The police declined to disclose the chemcial composition.
www.hongkongfp.com/2019/10/25/greenpeace-questions-hong-k...
*****
‘Resist tyranny, join a union’: Huge turnout as Hongkongers hit the streets for New Year’s Day protest
Thousands of Hongkongers took to the streets on Wednesday for the first police-approved mass protest of the new year.
The huge turnout built on a continuing a pro-democracy movement that has reached each corner of the city over the past seven months.
The march received a letter of no objection from the police, and began at around 2:40pm in Victoria Park in Causeway Bay.
The front of the march reached the endpoint at the Chater Road Pedestrian Precinct in Central just after 4pm.
In addition to the five core demands of the movement, protesters on Wednesday also called for increased union participation, supporting the victims of political reprisals, and halting a proposed pay rise for the police.
Protesters chanted slogans such as “Five demands, not one less,” as well as new additions such as “Resist tyranny, join a union.”
Those at the head of the march included some newly-elected pro-democracy district councillors – whose term in office began on January 1.
A group outside Victoria Park were rallying Hongkongers to register to vote: “We want to use our vote to tell the Hong Kong government what we want… We want the people to come out again and win at the Legislative Council election [in September],” Ms Oliver told HKFP, following the pro-democracy camp’s victory at last year District Council elections.
Though the extradition bill – which sparked the movement – was axed, demonstrators are still demanding an independent probe into police behaviour, amnesty for those arrested, universal suffrage and a halt to the characterisation of protests as “riots.”
In a statement, march organisers the Civil Human Rights Front (CHRF) called on the public to be “more united, persistent, and caring of one another” in the coming year.
“In 2020, the police have already fired the first round of tear gas,” the group wrote shortly after midnight. “Carrie Lam and police brutality turned a festive season into anguish, and perhaps we should say ‘Five demands, not one less’ instead of happy new year.”
In a statement later on Wednesday, the Front said the police had taken no responsibility for any misconduct: “They dehumanise protestors as cockroaches, demean journalists as “black reporters” and arrest medical doctors and nurses as rioters. Now, the government even attempts to increase the salaries of these rioting police.”
“We must persist this fight, for the arrested, injured and departed brothers and sisters in this movement. When victory comes, we shall gather at the dawn,” they added.
During the march, Ms Ho of the Construction Site Workers General Union said they had over 10,000 signed-up members and around 100 active members: “It is a union that already exists, but now we are recruiting more workers with the same political stance,” she said.
“We aim for three targets. The first one, we want to defend our own worker’s rights… We want to get the right to vote in the coming legislative election [as a functional constituency]… The third aim – we are trying to use construction workers’ role in this movement – for example, volunteer teams for people in need – trying to prepare for the general strike.”.....
www.hongkongfp.com/2020/01/01/resist-tyranny-join-union-h...
民陣今日（1日）舉行「毋忘承諾，並肩同行」 元旦大遊行。在預定起步時間2時，銅鑼灣東角道已聚集大量等待插隊的民眾，亦有不少市民支持黃色經濟圈，黃店「渣哥」有逾百人排隊光顧。
Shot this about a year ago. I am not one for filming, but this line was worthy of being captured on video.
song: Untitled (Acoustic)
band: Endpoint
Somewhere, California
A narrow waterway on the coast of British Columbia leads to Princess Louisa Inlet and Chatterbox Falls at its endpoint.
The water here is very deep, and the experiences are very rich.
Aqua came in today with the F3 V2.0 body, and decided to have some pose comparisons against a tired DD2.
Considering the type of unsupported posing I mostly do, this new version is actually harder to balance than the old DD2, partially due to the ankles just having a slightly different endpoint.
The only thing I really like is how the neck works, but that was partially already done as a mod for the DD2's.
Yes, the body can do more extreme motions in some points compared to the DD2, but I think thats only good for making prezels, and not poses.
Maneuver to the endpoint from San Fernando
RJ Express, Inc. in Golden Dragon XML6127J6 "Marcopolo II Triumph" fleet by Xiamen Golden Dragon Bus Co., Ltd. (China) (Prime Manufacturer) / Trans Oriental Motor Builders, Inc. (Assembler)
🕚 Date Taken on April 2, 2022 • 1:33 PM
📍 Photo Shot Location @ Araneta Cubao Bus Station, Quezon City
️ Landmark: Araneta City, Alimall, Gateway Mall, Araneta Coliseum, SM Cubao...
#MacBusEnthusiast #BehindTheBusSpottingPhotography @macbusenthusiastph
#BusPhotography #RJExpressInc
Fayetteville, the seat of Cumberland County North Carolina is most widely known as the home of the US Army’s Fort Bragg. The city itself is larger than expected with a population of around 210,000 but has a reputation as kind of a tough town. It is so rough that soldiers stationed on post are advised to avoid downtown “Fayette-nam” as it’s derisively referenced. But to the visiting railfan willing to take a look around the city has a surprisingly lot to offer. And while I wouldn’t call it a particularly inviting place, I in no way felt ill at ease or unsafe photographing in town.
By far the dominant railroad in town is CSXT with their south end subdivision, the former Atlantic Coast Line main, seeing the passage of dozens of daily freight trains and four daily Amtrak trains on an 11 mile stretch of double track through the city.
The city is also served by the Norfolk Southern that arrives tri-weekly on a 43 mile branch from Fuquay-Varina that was an ORIGINAL pre-1974 Norfolk Southern.
And those roads both interchange with the famous and always independent shortline Aberdeen and Rockfish that calls Fayetteville the eastern endpoint of its 47 mile route.
CSXT also operates two branchlines out of the city, both of which are remaining stubs of the one time Cape Fear & Yadkin Valley Railroad dating from the 1880s. That Atlantic Coast Line came to own the Sanford to Wilmington Route by 1900 and it would remain as a thru route into the 1970s.
Abandoned piecemeal by the SCL (which found itself with five lines radiating from that coastal city) all that remains of the line today is a stub northeast about 8 miles to Fort Jct. (that sees regular military trains interchanged with the US Army’s Cape Fear Railroad on Ft. Bragg.) and east 7 miles to Vander. At this east end a long lead continues down to the Cape Fear River about 4 more miles to reach the giant DAK Americas plastic plant.
But at the time I knew none of that and had no idea what this strange line was running for nearly a mile right down the middle of four lane Russell Street, Fayetteville’s main downtown thoroughfare.
What threw me for even more of a loop at first was the NS painted locomotive. But I quickly realized it was a leaser FURX 5528, a rebuilt and chop nosed GP38-2 built as a SOU 2730 in Sept. 1969 and on lease to CSXT.
This was a totally unexpected surprise and didn’t offer much chance to shoot, but I did have to grab one shot looking out the windshield east down Russell St as the local returns west on the Vander spur with a classic old El Camino tooling down the road.
Fayetteville, North Carolina
Friday May 29, 2015.
"There is a saying, 'Eyes are the windows to the soul.' It means, mostly, people can see through someone else by eye contact in seven seconds. I have a habit that if I meet someone I don't know, I'd like to look at her or his eyes on purpose. When my eyes lay on them, I can immediately see their true color." Peng LiyuanPraise for Windows of the Soul Every once in a while a book comes along that makes you stop and think―and then think some more―like Ken Gire’s wonderful book Windows of the Soul. ―John Trent in Christian Parenting Today Ken Gire has created a book that gently pours forth, like water out of a garden bucket, cleansing our thoughts and opening the petals of our spirits, providing us with a new sense of clarity in our search for God. ―Manhattan (KS) Mercury Each word, each phrase, is painstakingly wrought, loaded with thoughts and prayer, and filled with new glimpses of God’s love, grace, and strength. ―The Christian Advocate Windows of the Soul will surprise you with the many and varied windows God uses to speak to us. With the heart of an artist, Ken Gire paints word pictures in prose and poetry that will thrill your heart. ―Mature Living Windows of the Soul is a rare book, resounding with the cry for communion that is both ours and God’s.
www.amazon.com/Windows-Soul-Experiencing-God-Ways/dp/0310...
The Windows of the Soul:To understand that the eye is the window to the soul, there are 2 techniques you can use, alone or with others.Alone: Stand in front of a mirror in the dark. Shine a flashlight below your face pointing upward. Now stare at the eyes in the mirror and you shall see your image change into many people, some may not be human, all of whom are aspects of your soul experiencing in other grids.Two People: Sit across from the person in a dimly lit, or dark room. Place the flashlight below your face again. This will enable the other person to see you in other lives and tell you what they see as they look through the windows of your soul. They may also see themselves in that lifetime with you. Next repeat this by looking into the other person's eyes.It is important not to move while doing this form of scrying. To truly be skilled at this, you will take the other person, or yourself, to their 'soul spark' of light. It is the flicker of light, white, blue, purple, that you sometimes see in the periphery of your field of vision, for only a second. The vesica piscis is a shape that is the intersection of two disks with the same radius, intersecting in such a way that the center of each disk lies on the perimeter of the other. The name literally means the "bladder of a fish" in Latin after the conjoined dual air bladders ("swim bladder") found in the bodies of most fishes. The shape is also called mandorla ("almond" in Italian).The vesica piscis in Euclid's ElementsThis figure appears in the first proposition of Euclid's Elements, where it forms the first step in constructing an equilateral triangle using a compass and straightedge. The triangle has as its vertices the two disk centers and one of the two sharp corners of the vesica piscis.The two circles of the vesica piscis, or three circles forming in pairs three vesicae, are commonly used in Venn diagrams. Arcs of the same three circles can also be used to form the triquetra symbol, and the Reuleaux triangle.In Christian art, some aureolas are in the shape of a vertically oriented vesica piscis, and the seals of ecclesiastical organizations can be enclosed within a vertically oriented vesica piscis (instead of the more usual circular enclosure). Also, the icthys symbol incorporates the vesica piscis shape.The cover of the Chalice Well in Glastonbury (Somerset, United Kingdom) depicts a stylized version of the vesica piscis design (see picture).The vesica piscis has been used as a symbol within Alchemyy, most notably in the shapes of the collars worn by officiants of the Alchemicic rituals. It was also considered the proper shape for the enclosure of the seals of Alchemic labs.The vesica piscis is also used as proportioning system in architecture, in particular Gothic architecture. The system was illustrated in Cesare Cesariano's Vitruvius (1521), which he called "the rule of the German architects".
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vesica_piscis
The Vesica Piscis is a symbol made from two circles of the same radius, intersecting in such a way that the center of each circle lies on the circumference of the other. The name literally means the bladder of the fish in Latin. In the Christian tradition, it is a reference to Christ, as in ichthys. It is called a mandorla ("almond") in India and known in the early Mesopotamian, African, and Asian civilizations.Geometry -- The symbol is formed from the almond-shaped area in the overlap between the circles, as shown in black in the diagram - for certain purposes also including the upper arcs as far as the edges of a rectangle whose sides coincide with the widest points of the almond (as shown in light blue in the diagram). The resulting figure looks like a stylized fish, or in the extended version like a flattened Greek letter alpha.
Mystical and Religious Significance - It has been the subject of mystical speculation at several periods of history, perhaps first among the Pythagoreans, who considered it a holy figure. The mathematical ratio of its width (measured to the endpoints of the "body", not including the "tail") to its height was reportedly believed by them to be 265:153. This ratio, equal to 1.73203, was thought of as a holy number, called the measure of the fish.The geometric ratio of these dimensions is actually the square root of 3, or 1.73205... (since if you draw straight lines connecting the centers of the two circles with each other, and with the two points where the circles intersect, then you get two equilateral triangles joined along an edge, as shown in light red in the diagram).The ratio 265:153 is an approximation to the square root of 3, with the property that no better approximation can be obtained with smaller whole numbers. The number 153 appears in the Gospel of John (21:11) as the exact number of fish Jesus caused to be caught in a miraculous catch of fish, which is thought by some to be a coded reference to Pythagorean beliefs. Ichthys a symbol used by early Christians, more popularly known as the fish symbol is created by the almond shape and the light blue extension as seen in the Construction Diagram of the Vesica Pisces above.Uses of the shape -- Other uses of the shape include that by some early peoples of the almond-shaped central area as a representation of the female genitals, and the use of a similar (horizontally-oriented) fish symbol called the Ichthys by early Christians. In Christian art, some aureolas are in the shape of a vertically oriented vesica piscis, and the seals of ecclesiastical organizations can be enclosed within a vertically oriented vesica piscis (instead of the more usual circular enclosure). The most common modern object based on the vesica piscis is the American football, which resembles the interior almond-shaped area of the vesica piscis swept about its long "axis" to produce a 3D object with rotational symmetry.In Alchemic literature, the vesica is first stressed by George Oliver. Oliver argues that the vesica is “a universal exponent of architecture or Alchemy, and the original source or fountain from which its signs and symbols are derived— it constituted the great and enduring secret of our ancient brethren.” In his Prestonian Lecture for 1931, noted Masonic historian W.W. Covey-Crump calls this statement“quite right,” and expresses that “the Vesica Piscis had even from the time of the Primitive Christians possessed a sacred symbolical significance, though the purport of that significance was variously interpreted owing to the secrecy of its transmission.”
www.crystalinks.com/vesicapiscis.html
The vesica piscis, or “bladder of the fish,” is a simple geometric shape formed by the intersection of two circles. It has a long traditional history, both in operative and speculative Alchemy.As a symbol, it was frequently employed as a church decoration by the architects of the Middle Ages. The seals of all colleges, abbeys, and other religious communities, as well as of ecclesiastical persons, were invariably made of this shape. Hence, in reference to the religious character of the Institution, it has been suggested that the seals of alchemists should also have that form, instead of the circular one now used. The vesica piscis was a major symbol within the ancient tradition of sacred geometry. It was also an ubiquitous feature of the Gothic architecture that was based upon those ideas,not mentioned explicitly in extant lectures, it is present in the visual arts, regalia and ceremonial forms of the Craft from an early period.
academialodge.org/article_vesica_piscis.php
The word "Eye" has many meanings from an organ that detects light to the symbolic eye with its many metaphors that link to conscious awareness. Reality is a consciousness hologram virtually experienced through the eye of time. The physical eye has a pupil symbolizing we are pupils/students in a university or universe.The Eye represents the center of the Milky Way Galaxy or the center of a Black Hole,everything spiraling into physical consciousness (existence)
HISTORY
Over fifteen years ago, entrepreneur and Miami native Craig Robins recognized the potential of the Miami Design District, and started acquiring and redefining properties in the area. Through careful stewardship. the Design District began to juxtapose design brands with internationally important art collections, phenomenal temporary and permanent art and design installations, and great restaurants. L Real Estate and the LVMH brands recognized the unique importance of the community, centrally located in Miami and culturally at the vanguard of global creative industry, and joined Dacra to bring in the unique retail development vision and luxury retail experiences that discerning consumers crave – all north of downtown and less than 10 minutes away from South Beach in a pedestrian-friendly environment.As new buildings were erected and historic structures were transformed, design showrooms flocked to the area, led by Holly Hunt, Knoll, Poliform, Luminaire Contract, Waterworks, bulthaup, Ann Sacks, Campaniello/Cassina, British Khaki, Kartell, and Poltrona Frau. Art galleries and exhibition spaces followed including Art Fusion, Artformz, Diaspora Vibe, Etra Fine Art, Galeria AQUA, Solange Rabello Art Gallery, and The Moore Space. And because creative talents gravitate to neighborhoods defined by art and design it was logical that architects Alison Spear, Chad Oppenheim, HOK, Matthew McDonald, NuHouse, and photographer Iran Issa-Khan opened studios in the Design District. Restaurants naturally followed, creating even greater connective tissue.Innovative retailers soon started to open unique spaces within which to present their collections. Today, Christian Louboutin, Marni, Maison Martin Margiela, En Avance, Cartier, Celine, Louis Vuitton, Agnona, Dior Homme and Prada are open and preparing to welcome new neighbors who will join them in 2014, including Hermes, Berluti and many more.Like all authentic neighborhoods, the Miami Design District continues to evolve: public art installations including the Buckminster Fuller Fly¹s Eye Dome, more amazing shops, restaurants and galleries, and a boutique hotel and residences are all planned. A renaissance of the streetscape and landscape of the District designed by Island Planning Corp is underway. New buildings have been commissioned from architects Aranda\Lasch, K|R, Sou Fujimoto, Moorhead and Moorhead, Iwatmoto Scott, Studio Gang, Leong and Leong, SB Architects and OAB (Office of Architecture Barcelona). Recently, the neighborhood became the first LEED ND Gold Certified project in Miami Dade County and only the 33rd in the entire United States.
Dam Square, or simply the Dam (Dutch: de Dam), is a town square in Amsterdam, the capital of the Netherlands. Its notable buildings and frequent events make it one of the most well-known and important locations in the city.
Dam Square lies in the historical center of Amsterdam, approximately 750 meters south of the main transportation hub, Centraal Station, at the original location of the dam in the river Amstel. It is roughly rectangular in shape, stretching about 200 meters from west to east and about 100 meters from north to south.
It links the streets Damrak and Rokin, which run along the original course of the Amstel River from Centraal Station to Muntplein (Mint Square) and the Munttoren (Mint Tower).
The Dam also marks the endpoint of the other well-traveled streets Nieuwendijk, Kalverstraat and Damstraat. A short distance beyond the northeast corner lies the main red-light district: de Wallen.
On the west end of the square is the neoclassical Royal Palace, which served as the city hall from 1655 until its conversion to a royal residence in 1808. Beside it are the 15th-century Gothic Nieuwe Kerk (New Church) and the Madame Tussaud's Wax Museum.
The National Monument, a white stone pillar designed by J.J.P. Oud and erected in 1956 to memorialise the victims of World War II, dominates the opposite side of the square.
Also overlooking the plaza are the NH Grand Hotel Krasnapolsky and the upscale department store De Bijenkorf. These various attractions have turned the Dam into a tourist zone.
Route 66 | Hackberry 04/12/2009 13h08
A place full of Route 66 memorabilia and vintage cars all over the place. The general store has been turned into a Route 66 museum and no gas is sold at the old pumps in front of it.
Route 66
U.S. Route 66 (also known as the Will Rogers Highway after the humorist, and colloquially known as the "Main Street of America" or the "Mother Road") was a highway in the U.S. Highway System. One of the original U.S. highways, Route 66, US Highway 66, was established on November 11, 1926. However, road signs did not go up until the following year.
The famous highway originally ran from Chicago, Illinois, through Missouri, Kansas, Oklahoma, Texas, New Mexico, Arizona, and California, before ending at Los Angeles, encompassing a total of 2,448 miles (3,940 km). It was recognized in popular culture by both a hit song (written by Bobby Troup and performed by the Nat King Cole Trio and The Rolling Stones, among others) and the Route 66 television show in the 1960s. More recently, the 2006 Disney/Pixar film Cars featured U.S. 66.
Route 66 underwent many improvements and realignments over its lifetime, changing its path and overall length. Many of the realignments gave travelers faster or safer routes, or detoured around city congestion. One realignment moved the western endpoint farther west from downtown Los Angeles to Santa Monica.
Route 66 was a major path of the migrants who went west, especially during the Dust Bowl of the 1930s, and supported the economies of the communities through which the road passed. People doing business along the route became prosperous due to the growing popularity of the highway, and those same people later fought to keep the highway alive even with the growing threat of being bypassed by the new Interstate Highway System.
US 66 was officially removed from the United States Highway System on June 27, 1985 after it was decided the route was no longer relevant and had been replaced by the Interstate Highway System. Portions of the road that passed through Illinois, Missouri, New Mexico, and Arizona have been designated a National Scenic Byway of the name "Historic Route 66". It has begun to return to maps in this form. Some portions of the road in southern California have been redesignated "State Route 66", and others bear "Historic Route 66" signs and relevant historic information.
[ Source and more information: Wikipedia - Route 66 ]
This is my ride from Rosario, Pasig to the endpoint Gilmore then heading to 1st St after drop-off.
De Guia Enterprises, Inc. / G Liner | 3071 | Hino FG8J Grandmetro fleet by Pilipinas Hino, Inc.
🕚 Date Taken on September 24, 2021 • 3:54 PM
📍 Photo Shot Location @ Gilmore Ave. cor 1st St., New Manila, Quezon City
🚏 Rationalized Route Assigned in Route 11: Gilmore - Taytay (under Mega Manila Consortium Corporation)
🚏 Franchise / Original Route: Cainta - Quiapo
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Tacna, located at the extreme southern tip of Peru, is the endpoint of an isolated border-hopping railroad that crossed to the Chilean city of Arica (the only standard-gauge railroad to enter Chile, as it is.) Up until recently, a railbus - the one seen on the right here - made two daily round trips between the two cities, but service has since been suspended owing to track conditions. It does appear that the regional government is putting some money into the line in order to restore service, but it's impossible to gather any information as to its current status. (NOTE: as of June 2016, full service has been restored on the line using a rebuilt railbus.)
The yard and station complex in Tacna has been converted into a museum mostly featuring pieces of equipment from the Ferrocarril Tacna-Arica, including a few railbuses (British-built,) an Alco road switcher, some steam locomotives and coaches and various pieces of machinery and MOW equipment. There's also a room with some stunning photography of the steam era on the spectacular Ferrocarril Central (today FCCA.)