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Modelo: Cris
Fotografía: Yo.
Edición: Yo.
Texto: Yo
Porque ella es la chica de las caras graciosas. Porque tenemos una sincronía genial. Porque estudiará lo mismo que yo. Porque tiene una super Nikon D5000. Porque la utiliza como nadie. Porque es mi chica Nikon. Porque somos muy parecidas. Porque nos gustan los infinitos antes de que se pusieran de moda. Porque es grande, más de lo que ella puede imaginar. Porque cuando te dice algo de una foto tuya, es tan grande el comentario que te hace sentir muy bien. Porque ella es increíble. Y porque merece la pena conocer.
Hoy no me hecho de rogar tanto. Es el turno de mi Cris. Cuando la conocí fue como un flechazo a primera vista, ni se pueden imaginar todo lo que la quiero. Todo lo que las quiero a ellas <3
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.”
Fonte Gaia ("Joyous Fountain") 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.
Being a student of science, I’m interested in not only the endpoint but also the process and sequence of dance movement. That air-borne moment at the height of a leap is indeed glorious, but the preparatory steps preceding it are no less poetic in their own right. Here is a time-lapse collage of 5 frames merged in PS. I then experimented with a couple of different effects to spice up the image a bit.
Route 66 | Hackberry 04/12/2009 13h07
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 ]
"A neutron star is about 20 km in diameter and has the mass of about 1.4 times that of our Sun. This means that a neutron star is so dense that on Earth, one teaspoonful would weigh a billion tons! Because of its small size and high density, a neutron star possesses a surface gravitational field about 2 x 1011 times that of Earth. Neutron stars can also have magnetic fields a million times stronger than the strongest magnetic fields produced on Earth.
Neutron stars are one of the possible ends for a star. They result from massive stars which have mass greater than 4 to 8 times that of our Sun. After these stars have finished burning their nuclear fuel, they undergo a supernova explosion. This explosion blows off the outer layers of a star into a beautiful supernova remnant. The central region of the star collapses under gravity. It collapses so much that protons and electrons combine to form neutrons. Hence the name "neutron star"."
"A pulsar is a neutron star that emits beams of radiation that sweep through Earth's line of sight. Like a black hole, it is an endpoint to stellar evolution. The "pulses" of high-energy radiation we see from a pulsar are due to a misalignment of the neutron star's rotation axis and its magnetic axis. Pulsars seem to pulse from our perspective because the rotation of the neutron star causes the beam of radiation generated within the magnetic field to sweep in and out of our line of sight with a regular period, somewhat like the beam of light from a lighthouse. The stream of light is, in reality, continuous, but to a distant observer, it seems to wink on and off at regular intervals."
If you want to know more:
imagine.gsfc.nasa.gov/docs/science/know_l1/pulsars.html
imagine.gsfc.nasa.gov/docs/science/know_l2/pulsars.html
The explanations I found on the Arte channel (again!) were so fascinating... I think I could watch "Au coeur du Cosmos" all the day and everyday!
29.12.2014r. Częstochowa, pętla Raków PKP. 30-letni wtedy Ikarus 280.26 #332 obsługiwał tego dnia linię nr 12. W tle dymi Huta Częstochowa.
Co ciekawe, wóz nadal służy w częstochowskim MPK, pomimo że w tym roku "stukną" mu już 32 lata. Bardzo słuszny wiek jak na miejski autobus. Jednak wszystko wskazuje na to, że 33 latek już nie doczeka. W związku z ostatnimi zakupami autobusów hybrydowych rok 2016 będzie najprawdopodobniej ostatnim rokiem eksploatacji Ikarusów 280.26 w MPK Częstochowa, a co za tym idzie - ostatnim rokiem, w którym można spotkać ten typ autobusu na jakiejkolwiek regularnej linii w Polsce. Jeśli chodzi o "automaty" - pozostaje omawiana Częstochowa, Bielsko-Biała, kilka niedobitków w Katowicach, i to chyba tyle - więcej nie kojarzę.
UPDATE: somebody at flickr (marissa?) put the notes back on! Now you can mouse over all the details in a photo for more info. Thanks marissa! Now go back to google where you did a great job.
Marissa Mayer ruined Flickr so you can't see all the helpful overlaid transit notes on the photo anymore. petitions.moveon.org/sign/change-flickr-back
Watch your phones. www.infoworld.com/welcome-san-francisco-heres-where-the-c...
Don't pay panhandlers to go away. Most panhandlers aren't homeless, most homeless aren't panhandlers. Homeless people are usually invisible, hiding, in line seeking services and often mentally ill and not in treatment. Panhandlers are usually just career income supplementers and very much housed in subsidized Tenderloin Hotels, not shelters.
On Google Maps desktop or Android (not available on iPhone) click the BLUE BUS STOP ICONS at intersections for a list of bus and train lines at that stop and the scheduled times they arrive!
SAVE THESE LINKS ON YOUR PHONE!
BART is only a regional train to airports.
MUNI is only in the city, their buses are numbers, their trains are letters.
They are separate systems with individual stations mostly, but they share 4 stations on one stretch of Market Street at the following 4 stops: Embarcadero (near Ferry Building where Market starts/ends at the water) Montgomery (financial district) Powell (tourist/shopping/crackhead area) and Civic Center (government, library and crackheads)
The best "how many live, actual, NOT-schedule, GPS based minutes till X bus/train picks up at THIS stop?" MUNI app for ANDROID (don't know about Apple) is:
play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=info.yasskin.droidm...
Click the dots on the maps below. They are bus/train stops. They will tell you when it's coming and in which direction.
Hit the museums along Golden Gate Park and continue to the Ocean restaurants with the 5 bus from Market & Powell
www.nextbus.com/predictor/publicMap.shtml?a=sf-muni&r=5
Italian Town restaurants and nightlife (North Beach) along Columbus (and the Prisidio!) can be accessed by going downtown to Market & Drumm and catching the 41 Union in front of the Hyatt www.nextbus.com/predictor/publicMap.shtml?a=sf-muni&r=41
Go to the Zoo (not advised, it's just ok) on the L train and the Haight Ashbury district (or the ocean or Golden Gate Park) on the N train. Both from Market & Powell
www.nextbus.com/predictor/publicMap.shtml?a=sf-muni&r...
See the naked people at Castro or the tourist traps at Fisherman's Wharf on the F train (aka F line, F and train letters are case sensitive below)
www.nextbus.com/predictor/publicMap.shtml?a=sf-muni&r=F
Or express underground to the Naked People at Castro with any K, L, M train.
Take the T 3rd train to the Ballpark and genetic tech & university campuses renovating the old industrial area but watch your phone south of 16th.
www.nextbus.com/predictor/publicMap.shtml?a=sf-muni&r=KT
Watch a beautiful sunset by hiking to the top of Twin Peaks by taking the 37 bus from Castro to Crestline & Vista Lane then hiking up the hill.
www.nextbus.com/predictor/publicMap.shtml?a=sf-muni&r=37
Take in a relaxing no-hike view of the city and a watch everybody sunning & picnicking on Sunday in Dolores Park by taking the J train from downtown to Church & 20th or continue a few blocks to restaurants and cute homes on 24th in Noe Valley with the J train
www.nextbus.com/predictor/publicMap.shtml?a=sf-muni&r=J
Cable cars are expensive one way. Get unlimited rides with a MUNI 1,3 or 7 day pass at some Walgreens and the silver outdoor kiosk at Market & Powell which also covers MUNI buses and trains. The Powell/Hyde line is the most interesting of the 2 that run on Powell. California Line west of Powell will take you to Huntington Park and the apartment filmed in Vertigo. East of Powell is Chinatown. If you're in a long line at the endpoints, walk up a couple blocks and hop on quicker :) www.sfcablecar.com/routes.html
If you're in line underground at Powell for a clogged south/outbound MUNI train, just go NORTH/inbound a couple stops to Embarcadero and wait for a fresh empty seat train to turn around :) POR stands for Powell Right (outbound/south) and POL stands for Powell Left (inbound/north) Double Train Letters (JJ or LL) mean 2 cars connected. This is the overhead TV display on the platforms: www.sfmunicentral.com/sfmunicentral_Snapshot_Objects/Muni...
The ONLY two MUNI buses that run OUTSIDE the city are the SAT/SUN ONLY 76x to Marin Headlands north of the Golden Gate Bridge (highway 101) and the 7days a week 108 to Treasure Island off the Oakland Bay Bridge (highway I-80) which IS actually part of San Francisco.
76 is easiest caught at Powell & Sutter. On the Marin side lets you see incredible mountains with an incredible view of San Francisco and then a quiet beach at the terminus. Bus runs every hour, last inbound to the city is 6:30pm! Miss that and you're STRANDED. There is a hostel nearby though, but only stay on SATURDAY so you can catch the SUNDAY bus back. www.sfmta.com/getting-around/transit/routes-stops/76x-mar...
108 starts downtown at the Transbay Terminal next to the Dry Cleaners on Beale. The 5, 38 & 71 can get you there from Powell. The 108 lets you see the former military base on a quick 30 minute loop from beginning to end. You can get off at the main gate and take photos of the city, which offers an incredible view. Also at the gate is the original art deco round building in Indiana Jones that was used for the 1939 world expo on Treasure Island before it was all demolished to build the base in WWII. www.nextbus.com/predictor/publicMap.shtml?a=sf-muni&r...
Color footage from the expo!
www.youtube.com/watch?v=RaInmsZe5Fs
Photos from the expo:
www.google.com/search?q=1939+treasure+island+exposition&a...
Amtrak trains don't come directly into city, but their free shuttle buses from Oakland Jack London Square and Emeryville do. Save BART fare and take a shuttle from the Ferry Building, Hyatt/Embarcadero, Powell/Westfield Mall or Caltrain/4th & King dixielandsoftware.net/Amtrak/status/StatusMaps/
Lastly, Caltrain is just a commuter train from SF to Silicon Valley & San Jose. But it connects at SJ to the 17 bus which goes over the mountains to Santa Cruz!
www.caltrain.com/stations/systemmap.html
www.scmtd.com/media/bkg/20143/sched/rte_17.pdf
FOR MUNI: Call 311 free from pay phones or from your cell while in SF. Ask live operator "what bus to I take to get to X?" and "what time is the next outbound Y coming to such and such intersection?"
FOR ALL OTHER TRANSIT AGENCIES: call 511 or use www.511.org
UBER is a terrible company all the way around. Bad to it's riders, drivers and press who tries to investigate it. SideCar and Lyft are much better and cheaper and offer live phone support in emergencies like valuables left in the car. Uber doesn't.
If you MUST drive, get the rentalcars.com app pickup is cheaper at the airport. Never book downtown or at the counter. Or get citycarshare or zipcar app but register weeks in advance. Same with bayareabikeshare.com app.
Support the SFBC Bikes On Board campaign to allow more bikes on Caltrain. It's cheaper than subsidized parking lots and feeder buses or more lanes of concrete.
More tips below! Add your own!
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.
SpongeBob SquarePants - The Elf on the Shelf
The 90th Annual Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade in New York City, USA
The Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade is an annual parade presented by the U.S.-based department store chain Macy's. The tradition started in 1924.
The three-hour Macy's event is held in New York City starting at 9:00 a.m. on Thanksgiving Day, and has been televised nationally on NBC since 1952.
The parade starts on the Upper West Side of Manhattan at w77th st and heads 2.5 miles to West 34th Street.
Macy's Herald Square is the largest department store in the world. The flagship store covers almost an entire New York City block, features about 1.1 million square feet of retail space, includes additional space for offices and storage, and serves as the endpoint for Macy's annual Thanksgiving Day parade.
Macy's
Formerly called R. H. Macy & Co.
FoundedOctober 28, 1858
FounderRowland Hussey Macy
Macy's Herald Square
151 W 34th St,
New York, NY 10001
USA
The 90th Annual Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade performers include:
JOHNNYSWIM
DIAMANTE ELÉCTRICO
SARAH MCLACHLAN
MICHELLE CARTER
MADDIE & TAE
LAURIE HERNANDEZ
KELSEA BALLERINI
JACOB WHITESIDES
FITZ AND THE TANTRUMS
EASTON CORBIN
DE LA SOUL
DAYA
CHLOE AND HALLE
BRETT ELDREDGE
ALOE BLACC
BEN RECTOR
REGINA SPEKTOR
TIMEFLIES
TONY BENNETT
GRACE VANDERWAAL
CLARESSA SHIELDS
THE MUPPETS
TATYANA MCFADDEN
HANNAH MCFADDEN
GIANFRANCO IANNOTTA
MIKEY BRANNIGAN
LUNCHMONEY LEWIS
THE RADIO CITY ROCKETTES
And much more!
The movie Miracle on 34th Street focuses on the impact of a department store Santa Claus who claims to be the real Santa. The film was released June 4, 1947
Hashtag metadata tag
#HappyThanksgiving #Happy #Thanksgiving #ThankYou #Thankful #MacysParade #MacysThanksgivingDayParade #MacysThanksgivingParade #Thanksgiving #ThanksgivingParade #NY #NYC #NYNY #NYS #NewYork #NewYorkCity #NewYorkNewYork #NewYorkState #Macys #W34thSt #Holiday #US #USA #America #American #MacysThanksgiving
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New York City, Manhattan Island, New York State, The United States of America USA country, North America continent
Thursday, November 24, 2016
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.
Mysterious building next to the Metra Electric tracks, just before the 92nd-93rd St. endpoint in the South Chicago neighborhood/community area. Turns out to have been a restaurant/bar called Sonny's Inn; a 2016 obituary of the owner: www.chicagotribune.com/news/obituaries/ct-loretta-grzetic...
Dam 07/05/2020 08h18
The Dam early in the morning. Peek & Cloppenburg together with Madame Tussaud on the corner of Rokin and the Rabobank on the corner of the Kalverstraat.
Dam
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 and the country.
Dam Square lies in the historical center of Amsterdam, approximately 750 metres 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 metres from west to east and about 100 metres 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 Tussauds Amsterdam Wax Museum. The National Monument, a white stone pillar designed by J.J.P. Oud and erected in 1956 to memorialize 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.
The Dam derives its name from its original function: a dam on the Amstel River, hence also the name of the city.[1] Built in approximately 1270, the dam formed the first connection between the settlements on the sides of the river.
[ Source & More: Wikipedia - Dam (Square) ]
One of my main subway-foaming goals on my last visit to New York (in hindsight, perfectly timed before the COVID-19 outbreak) was to ride and shoot the IRT Times Square/Grand Central Shuttle line. Running a short distance under 42nd Street between two of the busiest and most important spots in all of New York City, the shuttle is a vital part of the subway system, linking the 1, 2, 3, 7, A, C, E, N, R, and Q train services at the enormous 42nd St - Times Square station complex to the 4, 5, 6, and 7 trains at Grand Central- and of course Metro-North's busy Hudson, Harlem and New Haven lines at Grand Central Terminal itself. The shuttle is especially historic, as for the first 14 years of its existence from 1904 to 1918, when services were reconfigured, it was an integral part of New York's "First Subway", the Interborough Rapid Transit line from City Hall to northern Manhattan. As such, there are many remnants of that era, mainly regarding Track 2, which was removed sometime after 1918- hence, for over a century the Shuttle has only, and officially, had Tracks 1, 3, and 4.
At the time of my visit, the shuttle line was about to undergo its greatest change in slightly over a century of existence, (other than a brief but revolutionary experiment with automated operation from 1959-1964) with both endpoint stations being rebuilt to smooth passenger flow, and the line simplified from its current 3-track arrangement to two tracks. This will involve complicated underground construction work that will ultimately improve and streamline service, but will significantly change the look and feel of the Shuttle.
Here at the Grand Central end of the line, a train of R62A equipment waits to depart for Times Square on Track 3. The Bombardier-built R62As have been the shuttle's sole rolling stock since their delivery in the mid 1980s- this could easily change once the reconstruction project is complete. Platform work at Times Square in preparation for the project has already resulted in changes- access to the doors on the last car here is blocked off.
The opposite of a correct statement is a false statement. But the opposite of a profound truth may well be another profound truth. ~ Niels Bohr
Santa Claus in the 90th annual Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade New York City USA
The 90th Annual Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade in New York City, USA
The Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade is an annual parade presented by the U.S.-based department store chain Macy's. The tradition started in 1924.
The three-hour Macy's event is held in New York City starting at 9:00 a.m. on Thanksgiving Day, and has been televised nationally on NBC since 1952.
The parade starts on the Upper West Side of Manhattan at w77th st and heads 2.5 miles to West 34th Street.
Macy's Herald Square is the largest department store in the world. The flagship store covers almost an entire New York City block, features about 1.1 million square feet of retail space, includes additional space for offices and storage, and serves as the endpoint for Macy's annual Thanksgiving Day parade.
Macy's
Formerly called R. H. Macy & Co.
FoundedOctober 28, 1858
FounderRowland Hussey Macy
Macy's Herald Square
151 W 34th St,
New York, NY 10001
USA
The 90th Annual Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade performers include:
JOHNNYSWIM
DIAMANTE ELÉCTRICO
SARAH MCLACHLAN
MICHELLE CARTER
MADDIE & TAE
LAURIE HERNANDEZ
KELSEA BALLERINI
JACOB WHITESIDES
FITZ AND THE TANTRUMS
EASTON CORBIN
DE LA SOUL
DAYA
CHLOE AND HALLE
BRETT ELDREDGE
ALOE BLACC
BEN RECTOR
REGINA SPEKTOR
TIMEFLIES
TONY BENNETT
GRACE VANDERWAAL
CLARESSA SHIELDS
THE MUPPETS
TATYANA MCFADDEN
HANNAH MCFADDEN
GIANFRANCO IANNOTTA
MIKEY BRANNIGAN
LUNCHMONEY LEWIS
THE RADIO CITY ROCKETTES
And much more!
The movie Miracle on 34th Street focuses on the impact of a department store Santa Claus who claims to be the real Santa. The film was released June 4, 1947
Hashtag metadata tag
#HappyThanksgiving #Happy #Thanksgiving #ThankYou #Thankful #MacysParade #MacysThanksgivingDayParade #MacysThanksgivingParade #Thanksgiving #ThanksgivingParade #NY #NYC #NYNY #NYS #NewYork #NewYorkCity #NewYorkNewYork #NewYorkState #Macys #W34thSt #Holiday #US #USA #America #American #MacysThanksgiving
HD Video
New York City, Manhattan Island, New York State, The United States of America USA country, North America continent
Thursday, November 24, 2016
We got some decent stuff. We gave the SlipNSlide to Makepeace (which resulted in finding out about a party we didn't know about, which resulted in a lot of shenanigans). We have a lot of extra wireless routers now, which came in handy 6 months later when we had to purchase a new washing machine with wifi support. We gave the SpongeBob Operation game to Sean. The solar light sucks and didn't work well. And we are always looking for extra boomboxes for our central house music.
Operation board game, SlipNSlide, The Alamo magnet, air brush, boombox, hammer, hand Gojo cleaner, level, network adapter USB hardware, paint can, routers wireless hardware, shovel, solar lamp, wireless access point.
cartoon: SpongeBob Squarepants.
upstairs, Clint and Carolyn's house, Alexandria, Virginia.
May 21, 2016.
... Read my blog at ClintJCL at wordpress.com
... Read Carolyn's blog at CarolynCASL at wordpress.com
... Read my yard sale-related blogposts at clintjcl dot wordpress dot com/category/yard-sales/
BACKSTORY: This was another trip where we didn't record the stats. We had 19 addresses in our predetermined route, however 15 of those addresses were all a part of a community sale.
THE TAKE:
* $5.00: Slip N Slide, Wham-O, Triple-Racer, 3x18ft (3x5.4m), barcode 032187620375, 62037 (EV:$22.88)
* $5.00: Router, D-Link, Wireless N 150 Home Router, Model No. DIR-601, S/N QB1O1A4025322, H/W Ver A1, F/W Ver 1.01NA, Barcode 790069332517, MAC 1CAFF7CB61AE, DIR-601, shrink-wrapped (EV:$5.99 price tag)
* $5.00: Router, Linksys, EtherFast Cable/DSL Firewall Router, 4-port switch/VPN Endpoint, Model No BEFSX41, S/N CB900C148080, MAC 000625BE3557 (EV:$4.95)
* $5.00: Router, Linksys, Wireless-G Broadband Router, Model No WRT54G, S/N CDF80E272550, MAC 001310332110, Ownership ID HLV9QWMS, Device ID VCBM2DBE (EV:$6.99 pricetag)
* $5.00: Wireless Network Access Point, Linksys, Model NO WAP11, barcode 745883549573, shrink-wrapped (EV:$19.99 pricetag)
* $5.00: USB Network Adapter with Wi-Fi Finder, Linksys, Wireless-G, All-in-One, 2.4GHz, 802.11G, Model No. WUSBF54G, barcode 745883567270, MAC 0014BFBE8DFB, S/N PKP006203448, shrink-wrapped (EV:$89.99 pricetag from CompUSA)
* $3.00: level, 24", red, metal, Unitek Empire with Double Plumb, 580-24, 497-9310(EV:$16.69)
* $2.00: air brush & propellant system, Testors, ozone safe propellant, used for painting plastic model kits and other craft projects. Contains Propellant, 6ft hose, color mixing pipette, propellant control assembly, 3 .5oz jars, organizing tray, single-action airbrush (EV:$26.99 pricetag from K&K Toys)
* $2.00: hammer (2), wooden handles, 5" head, 13" including handle (EV:$8.68 ($4.34 each))
* $2.00: game, Operation, Sponge Bob (EV:$1.99 price tag)
* $1.00: shovel, metal, square head, 12.5x10" head, 36" including handle (EV:$8.69)
* $0.50: boombox, Jensen, Portable AM/FM Stereo CD player, CD-472, S/N: 20090216793, black, 9x5x8" (EV:$22.99)
* $0.50: lamp, Ikea, blue, solar-powered, Type A0802 Sunnan 19972, flexible arm (EV:$20.00)
* $0.50: paint, Gloss Black, Enterprise Acrylic Latex Gloss Enamel, 3329 48934 barcode 042397550614, 946mL (EV:$7.65)
* $0.50: Gojo, Natural Orange Pumice Hand Cleaner, 1.89L, dispenser bottle, barcode 073852009583 (EV:$5.49)
* $FREE: magnet, San Antonio TX, The Alamo, 3.125x2.125" (EV:$3.49)
Fonte Gaia ("Joyous Fountain") 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 lakes inlet is through piped streams (Grøndalsåen, Lygteåen and Ladegårdsåen). These streams jointly provide water from the wet-area Utterslev Mose, the lake Emdrup Sø and to a lesser degree the lake Damhussøen. Ladegårdsåen was converted from an open stream to a piped stream in 1925 and is located below the streets Ågade and Åboulevarden. It provides water for Peblinge Sø and has its endpoint near the pavilion Søpavillonen (English: The Lake Pavilion). From the lakes the water is streamed further on, with an endpoint at the north end of Sortedams Sø, to the lakes in Østre Anlæg, the Fredrikshavn Entrenchment and Øresund. The water has an average time in the lakes of approx. one year.
The water in Utterslev Mose and Emdrup Sø is very high in nutrients. As a result of this, large quantities of algae formed in the lakes and the water became rather unclear as well as hindering animal and plant life. In 1999 the municipality of Copenhagen erected a water treatment plant by Emdrup Sø, to clean the water that was being led to the lakes. This allowed for the re-creation of the water environment. Currently the water is much more clear and animal and plant life are present.
Fontana di Trevi
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.
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.
At last! The endpoint of a 4 mile hike, with a 4 mile return trip.
Virgin Falls in Tennesee's Pocket Wilderness area is a unique falls. It comes out of a cave and empties into a cave.
We were pretty beat after the hike here, but McMillenD, Wizum, and the wife and kids stopped for some shooting.
Tough day with the sun out and the mist flying, but we managed to get some nice angles here.
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。
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.”
Route 5 Siblings Q.Ave./Centris Endpoint Convoy
Magicline Express Corp. | 182022 | ZhongTong LCK6125G "Fashion" fleet by ZhongTong Bus Holding Co., Ltd. (China)
🚏 Original / Authorized Franchise Route: Norzagaray / Sapang Palay - NAIA
🚏 Rationalized Route Assigned in Route 5: Quezon Ave. - Angat (under United Mega Manila Bus Consortium / NAT Transport) (until August 21, 2022)
Cameo: Mayamy Trans 312010 in UD PKB212N Santarosa Metrorider
🕚 Date Taken on May 2022
📍 Photo Shot Location @ BIR Rd., Diliman, Quezon City
#MacBusEnthusiast #BehindTheBusSpottingPhotography #BusPhotography #MagiclineExpress #MagiclineExpressCorp
To the Sufi, it is the transmission of divine light from the teacher's heart to the heart of the student, rather than worldly knowledge, that allows the adept to progress. They further believe that the teacher should attempt inerrantly to follow the Divine Law.According to Moojan Momen "one of the most important doctrines of Sufism is the concept of al-Insan al-Kamil "the Perfect Man". This doctrine states that there will always exist upon the earth a "Qutb" (Pole or Axis of the Universe)—a man who is the perfect channel of grace from God to man and in a state of wilayah (sanctity, being under the protection of Allah). The concept of the Sufi Qutb is similar to that of the Shi'i Imam. However, this belief puts Sufism in "direct conflict" with Shia Islam, since both the Qutb (who for most Sufi orders is the head of the order) and the Imam fulfill the role of "the purveyor of spiritual guidance and of Allah's grace to mankind". The vow of obedience to the Shaykh or Qutb which is taken by Sufis is considered incompatible with devotion to the Imam".As a further example, the prospective adherent of the Mevlevi Order would have been ordered to serve in the kitchens of a hospice for the poor for 1001 days prior to being accepted for spiritual instruction, and a further 1,001 days in solitary retreat as a precondition of completing that instruction.Some teachers, especially when addressing more general audiences, or mixed groups of Muslims and non-Muslims, make extensive use of parable, allegory, and metaphor.[80] Although approaches to teaching vary among different Sufi orders, Sufism as a whole is primarily concerned with direct personal experience, and as such has sometimes been compared to other, non-Islamic forms of mysticism (e.g., as in the books of Hossein Nasr).Many Sufi believe that to reach the highest levels of success in Sufism typically requires that the disciple live with and serve the teacher for a long period of time.[citation needed] An example is the folk story about Baha-ud-Din Naqshband Bukhari, who gave his name to the Naqshbandi Order. He is believed to have served his first teacher, Sayyid Muhammad Baba As-Samasi, for 20 years, until as-Samasi died. He is said to then have served several other teachers for lengthy periods of time. He is said to have helped the poorer members of the community for many years and after this concluded his teacher directed him to care for animals cleaning their wounds, and assisting them.Sufis believe the sharia (exoteric "canon"), tariqa (esoteric "order") and haqiqa ("truth") are mutually interdependent.[92] Sufism leads the adept, called salik or "wayfarer", in his sulûk or "road" through different stations (maqaam) until he reaches his goal, the perfect tawhid, the existential confession that God is One.[93] Ibn Arabi says, "When we see someone in this Community who claims to be able to guide others to God, but is remiss in but one rule of the Sacred Law—even if he manifests miracles that stagger the mind—asserting that his shortcoming is a special dispensation for him, we do not even turn to look at him, for such a person is not a sheikh, nor is he speaking the truth, for no one is entrusted with the secrets of God Most High save one in whom the ordinances of the Sacred Law are preserved. (Jamiʿ karamat al-awliyaʾ)".Traditional Islamic scholars have recognized two major branches within the practice of Sufism, and use this as one key to differentiating among the approaches of different masters and devotional lineages.On the one hand there is the order from the signs to the Signifier (or from the arts to the Artisan). In this branch, the seeker begins by purifying the lower self of every corrupting influence that stands in the way of recognizing all of creation as the work of God, as God's active Self-disclosure or theophany. This is the way of Imam Al-Ghazali and of the majority of the Sufi orders.On the other hand, there is the order from the Signifier to His signs, from the Artisan to His works. In this branch the seeker experiences divine attraction (jadhba), and is able to enter the order with a glimpse of its endpoint, of direct apprehension of the Divine Presence towards which all spiritual striving is directed. This does not replace the striving to purify the heart, as in the other branch; it simply stems from a different point of entry into the path. This is the way primarily of the masters of the Naqshbandi and Shadhili orders.Contemporary scholars may also recognize a third branch, attributed to the late Ottoman scholar Said Nursi and explicated in his vast Qur'an commentary called the Risale-i Nur. This approach entails strict adherence to the way of Muhammad, in the understanding that this wont, or sunnah, proposes a complete devotional spirituality adequate to those without access to a master of the Sufi way.
10 kilometers east of the town of Tlemcen in the commune of Ain Fezza, the caves of Beni Add, which date back to about 65,000 years, are remarkable for their charm and legendary beauty.
Ibn Arabi précise que : « les –stations- spirituelles de base de Sidi Boumediene étaient, « el wara » le scrupule et « tawadhu’ », l’humilité ; qui consistent à reconnaître la servitude absolue de la créature vis-à-vis du Créateur. La dernière chose dont se libère l’âme des amis sincères de Dieu est l’amour de la souveraineté qui subsiste avec l’ignorance. Il avait, disait t-il le don d’intuition et de lecture des âmes. Il connaissait le sens profond et les correspondances des formes, des attitudes et des gestes avec l’état présent et futur de l’âme ».Quatre siècles après, à Bejaia et à Tlemcen, le Cheikh Ahmed Al Burnussi Al Zurruk (Xe siècle hégire) qui était un Maitre enseignait la signification des paroles de Sidi Boumediene et d’Ibn Arabi. A cette même époque le Qutb, pôle du soufisme, qui dynamisa la Tarîqa d’Abu el Hassan Schadhily, disciple d’Abdeslam Mechiche, ce dernier faqir de Sidi Boumediene, Cheikh sidi Ahmed Benyoucef el Rachidi el miliani, disait après Sidi Boumediene et Schadhily : « mes livres ce sont mes disciples ! » Sidi Boumediene a écrit au moins deux ouvrages, dont le plus décisif est « Ilm Tawhid », La science de l’Unicité.
This is the endpoint of our latest blog post. Check it out to learn how Frank Morbillo made this elegant stainless steel fountain: matthewsgalleryblog.com/2014/06/07/sculptors-process-fran...
Green-Yellow Metro II Rear Shot. Reached to the endpoint!
De Guia Enterprises, Inc. / G Liner | 5031 | Hino FG Grandmetro II fleet by Hino Motors Philippines, Corp.
🕚 Date Taken on July 19, 2021 - 1:03 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: Taytay - Quiapo
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15 years ago to the month, I made use of a delay in the Conrail "split" to make a 9-day whirlwind tour of the system. This time, the majority of the DM&E was on the verge of changing hands so it was time to hit the road again. Being a smaller "bite" this time around, four days were used for this last look. Just as in 1999 I had to accept I wouldn't see it all but instead go for a good sampling. Just like 15 years ago, the reward was great weather, railroad action every day, and a nice look at part of the country I don't often visit.
We plotted the trip around our endpoint of Belle Fourche, SD, starting point of an overnight job (B01) that switches mainly bentonite loading facilities here and at the end of the line at Colony, WY. As B02, the train makes a daytime run down to Rapid City and back. On Monday May 26th, B01 finished up before dawn and parked the train in town. At about 9am a crew arrived that had been cabbed up from Rapid City.
Looking south down Highway 85 the power for B02 can be seen heading for the wye. The Black Hills rise in the distance as the Butte County Courthouse and Dakota Mill & Grain elevator dominate the cityscape. The traffic provides a good summary of this interesting crossroads city near the center of the nation, motorcycles, campers and industrial trucks. Full-blown tourist season is still on the way but there was no shortage of activity on this Memorial Day. May 26, 2014.
“Journeys require endpoint, otherwise you’re not Frodo, you’re just some homeless guy wandering around with stolen jewelry.”
-- Matthew Inman, The Oatmeal
One of my main subway-foaming goals on my last visit to New York (in hindsight, perfectly timed before the COVID-19 outbreak) was to ride and shoot the IRT Times Square/Grand Central Shuttle line. Running a short distance under 42nd Street between two of the busiest and most important spots in all of New York City, the shuttle is a vital part of the subway system, linking the 1, 2, 3, 7, A, C, E, N, R, and Q train services at the enormous 42nd St - Times Square station complex to the 4, 5, 6, and 7 trains at Grand Central- and of course Metro-North's busy Hudson, Harlem and New Haven lines at Grand Central Terminal itself. The shuttle is especially historic, as for the first 14 years of its existence from 1904 to 1918, when services were reconfigured, it was an integral part of New York's "First Subway", the Interborough Rapid Transit line from City Hall to northern Manhattan. As such, there are many remnants of that era, mainly regarding Track 2, which was removed sometime after 1918- hence, for over a century the Shuttle has only, and officially, had Tracks 1, 3, and 4.
At the time of my visit, the shuttle line was about to undergo its greatest change in slightly over a century of existence, (other than a brief but revolutionary experiment with automated operation from 1959-1964) with both endpoint stations being rebuilt to smooth passenger flow, and the line simplified from its current 3-track arrangement to two tracks. This will involve complicated underground construction work that will ultimately improve and streamline service, but will significantly change the look and feel of the Shuttle.
Here at the Times Square end of the line, where the platforms curve along the 1904 alignment of the original Interborough main line, a train of R-62A equipment waits to depart for Grand Central on Track 3 while, in the IRT West Side Line tunnel (here under Broadway), a northbound [1] local train blurs by towards 242nd St in The Bronx. As part of the shuttle's reconfiguration, this view into the Broadway tunnel will, unfortunately, no longer be possible.
It seems like Sunday is becoming my "music day". Tine is usually at dance practice and I'm at home, doing nerdy stuff and listening to music I haven't listened to in a while. Today I felt like taking out some of the records in my collection which I consider somewhat important. I think if you call yourself a hardcore kid, a punk or whatever you probably should have gotten in touch with some or even all of these records, or at least have heard of them. Of course this is just my humble opinion and the list does not claim completeness. A lot of them probably belong on the list of records I'd take to an abandoned island … if it has electricity and record player, of course … So here's the list in alphabetical order:
411 – This Isn't Me LP
Admiral – Revolving And Loading 7“
Against The Wall – Identify Me
Avail – Attempt To Regress 7“
Bad Trip – Positively Bad 7“
Billy Bragg – Don't Try This At Home 2xLP
Born Against – 9 Patriotic Hymns For Children LP
Chorus Of Disapproval – The Italian 7“
Cocksparrer – Guilty As Charged
Dag Nasty – 85–86 7“ Box
Endpoint – In A Time Of Hate LP
Eye For An Eye – Omega Drone 7“
Flex Your Head – Comp. LP
Floodgate – Troubles A' Brewin LP
Frail – S/T 7“
Fuel – Monuments To Excess LP
Headfirst – Back In Control 7“
Hüsker Dü – New Day Rising LP
Ignition – The Orafying Mysticle Of … LP
Indian Summer – S/T 7“
Insted – We'll Make The Difference 7“
Into Another – Ignaurus LP
Jawbreaker – 24 Hour Revenge Therapy LP
Jawbreaker – Whack & Blite 7“
Lifetime – S/T 7“
Lifetime – Tinnitus 7“
Metallica – Kill 'Em All LP
New York Hardcore – Where The Wild Things Are Comp. LP
Ordination Of Aaron – S/T 7“
Policy Of 3 – Dead Dog Summer
Rites Of Spring – S/T LP
Still Life – From Angry Heads With Skyward Eyes 2xLP
Struggle – S/T 7“
Supertouch – S/T 7“
Swing Kids – S/T 7“
Texas Is The Reason – S/T 7“
The Get Up Kids – S/T 7“
The Hated – What Was Behind LP
The Smiths – Meat Is Murder LP
Trial – Through The darkest days 7“
Upfront – Spirit LP
XXX – Some Ideas Are Poisonous Comp. 2xLP
www.dignitymemorial.com/obituaries/koloa-hi/harlan-amstut...
(My note, photograph from a 2015 follow-up visit, Dr. Amstutz traveling to Seattle) Well here in 2024 I am now 18 and 15 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
Italien / Toskana - Siena
Sunset - Piazza del Campo - Torre del Mangia and Palazzo Comunale
Sonnenuntergang - Piazza del Campo - Torre del Mangia und Palazzo Comunale
Piazza del Campo is the main public space of the historic center of Siena, Tuscany, Italy and is regarded as one of Europe's greatest medieval squares. It is renowned worldwide for its beauty and architectural integrity. The Palazzo Pubblico and its Torre del Mangia, as well as various palazzi signorili surround the shell-shaped piazza. At the northwest edge is the Fonte Gaia.
The twice-a-year horse-race, Palio di Siena, is held around the edges of the piazza. The piazza is also the finish of the annual road cycling race Strade Bianche.
History
The open site was a marketplace established before the thirteenth century on a sloping site near the meeting point of the three hillside communities that coalesced to form Siena: the Castellare, the San Martino and the Camollia. Siena may have had earlier Etruscan settlements, but it was not a considerable Roman settlement, and the campo does not lie on the site of a Roman forum, as is sometimes suggested. It was paved in 1349 in fishbone-patterned red brick with 8 lines of travertine, which divide the piazza into 9 sections, radiating from the mouth of the gavinone (the central water drain) in front of the Palazzo Pubblico. The number of divisions is held to be symbolic of the rule of The Nine (Noveschi) who laid out the campo and governed Siena at the height of its mediaeval splendour between 1292-1355. The Campo was and remains the focal point of public life in the City. From the piazza, eleven narrow shaded streets radiate into the city.
The palazzi signorili that line the square, housing the families of the Sansedoni, the Piccolomini and the Saracini etc., have unified rooflines, in contrast to earlier tower houses — emblems of communal strife — such as may still be seen not far from Siena at San Gimignano. In the statutes of Siena, civic and architectural decorum was ordered :"...it responds to the beauty of the city of Siena and to the satisfaction of almost all people of the same city that any edifices that are to be made anew anywhere along the public thoroughfares...proceed in line with the existent buildings and one building not stand out beyond another, but they shall be disposed and arranged equally so as to be of the greatest beauty for the city."
The unity of these Late Gothic houses is affected in part by the uniformity of the bricks of which their walls are built: brick-making was a monopoly of the commune, which saw to it that standards were maintained.
At the foot of the Palazzo Pubblico's wall is the late Gothic Chapel of the Virgin built as an ex voto by the Sienese, after the terrible Black Death of 1348 had ended.
Fonte Gaia
The Fonte Gaia ("Joyous Fountain") 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.
(Wikipedia)
Die Piazza del Campo ist der bedeutendste Platz der toskanischen Stadt Siena, deren Zentrum er bildet.
Der Platz ist bekannt durch seine beeindruckende Architektur und seine halbrunde Form sowie durch das hier normalerweise jährlich zweimal ausgetragene Pferderennen Palio di Siena.
Geschichte
Das Zentrum der bereits in der Etruskerzeit bedeutenden Stadt lag ursprünglich im Gebiet des heutigen Castelvecchio, während „der Campo“ lediglich ein Stück Land war, das dem Abfluss des Regenwassers diente. Da aber auch die an Siena vorbeiführende Fernstraße über dieses Feld verlief und sich hier mit einer anderen Straße kreuzte, entwickelte sich bald ein Marktplatz.
Der Name „Campo“ wird zum ersten Mal schriftlich 1169 erwähnt in einer Quelle, die sich mit der gesamten Talebene befasst, zu der auch die heutige Piazza del Mercato, heute auf der anderen Seite des Palazzo Comunale, gehörte. Damals erwarb die Stadt Siena das Gelände, das von der Piazza del Mercato bis zur heutigen Logge della Mercanzia reicht. Eine Unterteilung des Geländes in die heutigen zwei Plätze wird 1193 erwähnt, sodass man davon ausgehen kann, dass in der Zwischenzeit zumindest eine Mauer erbaut wurde, die den Platz in zwei Hälften teilte; möglicherweise geschah dies, um das Wasser besser ableiten zu können.
Bis ins Jahr 1270, als die Herrschaft der Vierundzwanzig (1236–1270) zu Ende ging, wurde dann der Platz für Messen und Märkte genutzt. Zwar hatte der Platz noch nicht das heutige Aussehen, er entwickelte sich aber allmählich zum zweiten Mittelpunkt der Stadt neben dem Dom; während dort religiöse Feste im Mittelpunkt standen, dominierten auf der Piazza del Campo der Handel und weltliche Feste. Da sich auch die städtische Obrigkeit immer unabhängiger vom Bischof (und später Erzbischof) machte, kam in der Zeit der Herrschaft der Neun (1289–1355) der Bedarf nach einem eigenen Rathaus auf.
Die Piazza del Campo ist einer der eindrucksvollsten kommunalen Plätze Italiens – im Gegensatz zum Markusplatz Venedigs und zur Piazza dei Miracoli Pisas ist dies ein Platz ohne Kirche, also ein rein politisches Zentrum – und das zeigt sich auch in der Kunst in den Innenräumen des Rathauses. Das Gelände ist leicht abschüssig und der Palazzo Pubblico, der öffentliche Palast, also das Rathaus steht an der tiefsten Stelle. Diese auffallend tief liegende Position im Gegensatz zu den Gepflogenheiten anderer Städte erklärt sich aus dem Bedürfnis, eine neutrale Lage zwischen den Hügeln von Siena zu wählen. Auch hier hat also das Konkurrenzdenken innerhalb der Stadt Konsequenzen gehabt. Das hatte zur Folge, dass der Turm sehr hoch werden musste, damit er trotz seiner niedrigen Lage die Stadt überragen konnte.
Mit dem Bau des Palazzo Comunale wurden dann auch die Impulse für eine architektonische Gestaltung des Platzes gegeben. In den Jahren 1327–1349 erhielt der Platz eine Pflasterung, wobei auch heute noch die Einteilung in neun Segmente an die damalige Herrschaft der Neun erinnert. Die „Skyline“ des Platzes ist allerdings nicht spontan in einem Stück entstanden. Erst mit den Jahren sorgte die Stadtverwaltung durch entsprechende Gesetze dafür, dass die Fassadengestaltung einheitlich gehandhabt wurde. So wurde etwa eine Peter- und Paul-Kirche abgerissen; heute erinnern die Gassen Vicoli di San Pietro e di San Paolo daran.
Nach 1861 wurden, wie auch an anderen Gebäuden in der Altstadt von Siena, Gebäude an der Piazza von ihren barocken Fassaden „befreit“, um dem ursprünglichen, d. h. mittelalterlichen Erscheinungsbild wieder zur Geltung zu verhelfen.
Seit ca. 2017 gehören 15 der 20 Gebäude, die den Platz begrenzen, Igor Bidilo, einem Investor aus Kasachstan.
Fonte Gaia
Auf der höheren Seite des Campo steht der Fonte Gaia, den Jacopo della Quercia von 1409 bis 1419 geschaffen hat. ‚Brunnen der Freude’ heißt er, weil es 1342 zum ersten Mal gelungen war, mithilfe einer 25 km langen Leitung Wasser in die Stadt fließen zu lassen. Der ewige Wassermangel war in der Bergstadt Siena ein großes Problem – besonders in den Sommermonaten. Stilistisch hat della Quercia in den Figuren dieses Brunnens etwas Ähnliches erreicht wie die Sieneser Malerei, nämlich einen Ausgleich zwischen der klassischen Tradition und gotischem Schwung.
Die Figuren des Brunnens sind zwar seit 1858 durch Nachbildungen von Tito Sarrocchi ersetzt, aber trotzdem haben wir hier ein wichtiges Dokument für die Entwicklung der frühen Renaissance-Plastik vor uns. Zur damaligen Zeit, 1409, hatte man angefangen, sich zunehmend für die antike Vergangenheit zu interessieren und dabei natürlich besonders für die Geschichte Roms. Jacopo della Quercia war von der Stadt Siena deshalb beauftragt worden, in diesem Brunnen die angebliche römische Abstammung der Stadt als Gründung der Söhne des Remus und ihre darauf beruhenden Tugenden zu dokumentieren. Die Originalteile des Brunnens sind heute im Museum von Santa Maria della Scala im Raum Fienile zu betrachten.
Gebäude
Palazzo Comunale
Mit dem Bau des Gebäudes der Stadtverwaltung wurde 1297 begonnen. Ursprünglich hatte der Palazzo lediglich drei Stockwerke; später erfolgten weitere Anbauten. Vor allem aber kam im Laufe des 14. Jahrhunderts mit dem Torre del Mangia der 102 Meter hohe Turm hinzu, der das Stadtbild von Siena prägt. Der Name leitet sich von dem Spitznamen Mangiaguadagni (Gewinnfresser) des ersten Glöckners ab.
Cappella di Piazza
Vor dem Eingang zum Palazzo Pubblico wurde als Dank für die überstandene Pest 1352 – also noch in der Gotik – eine kleine Kapelle, die Cappella di Piazza, die Platzkapelle errichtet, die über 100 Jahre später (1463) mit einer Renaissance-Dekoration ihre heutige Gestalt erhielt. Beides passt aber so gut zusammen, als sei es gleichzeitig geschaffen worden. Die Dachkonstruktion stammt von Antonio Federighi und entstand in den 1460er Jahren. Die nordeuropäische Gotik wurde in Italien im 13. und besonders im 14. Jh. in stark veränderter und der italienischen Tradition angepassten Form übernommen. Und später konnte im 15. Jh. die Renaissance auf jahrhundertelange vorbereitende Phasen aufbauen. Beides widersprach sich hier in Italien nicht so wie in Frankreich oder Deutschland. Hier an dieser Kapelle ist in der Gotik also locker der alte Rundbogen verwandt worden und nicht der eigentlich typische gotische Spitzbogen. Und als in der Renaissance der Rundbogen wieder zur Norm wurde, musste hier auch gar nichts geändert werden.
Das Pferderennen
Auf dem Platz wird zweimal im Jahr, am 2. Juli und am 16. August, ein Pferderennen („Palio di Siena“) ausgetragen.
(Wikipedia)
This seemingly bucolic November scene belies the fact that we are barely over a mile from Chicago's central business district (known as the "Loop"). The roll sign and twin yellow marker lights indicate that this is a northbound Red Line train heading into the subway portal that will lead to the State Street subway through the Loop.
The open space through which the train is traveling was once occupied almost entirely by railroad tracks. The Santa Fe main line, and the Chicago & Western Indiana main line to Dearborn Station were here, and were used by passenger trains of the C&WI, Santa Fe, Grand Trunk Western, Wabash, Chicago & Eastern Illinois, Monon, and Erie until Dearborn was closed with the coming of Amtrak in 1971.
The old railroad right-of-way laid fallow for a couple decades until CTA pushed through its new Orange Line service in the early Nineties to serve Midway Airport. In a major realignment of services that took place the day the Orange Line opened in 1993, CTA swapped endpoints for a handful of services. The trackage seen here was built as part of that realignment: It serves as the connector for trains to to travel from the route that operated in the median strip of the Dan Ryan Expressway into the State Street subway.
The ramp in the background is the connection was previously used (1969-1993) by Dan Ryan trains to access the South Side elevated tracks and in turn the Loop "L"; it is currently non-revenue trackage. The bridge leading across the frame in the background was new in 1993, and connects the "L" tracks with the then-new Orange Line.
The "DR1/539" sign marks the location of a "phantom signal" – in other words, a trackside block boundary without a wayside signal. Most of CTA's network is equipped with automatic train control and cab signals, and hence wayside signals only exist at interlockings and in their approaches.
Nicholas Party’s Head (2018–2022) stands like a surreal sentinel at the Hirshhorn Museum, where it forms part of the Revolutions: Art from the Hirshhorn Collection 1860–1960 exhibit. Though created well after the exhibit's chronological endpoint, Head was included as a contemporary “intellectual descendant” of the modernist movement. Bold, stylized, and gleaming with a pop-art polish, the sculpture features a towering red head with piercing green eyes, cobalt lips, and a glossed black coiffure. Set against a deep gray wall on a stark white pedestal, the piece exudes both simplicity and psychological intensity.
The Hirshhorn’s curators assembled Revolutions by combing through the museum's archives to identify artworks that capture the shift from traditional to modern art. While the exhibit is arranged roughly by decade, visitors experience it more like "wiggly streams of paint poured beside and atop each other." Party’s Head appears in this context as a visual jolt—a playful yet probing evolution of portraiture that nods to early 20th-century abstraction while anchoring viewers in contemporary materiality and color theory.
The artist’s signature use of large color blocks, dramatic shading, and cartoonish surrealism harmonizes perfectly with recurring themes of the show: abstract features, saturated hues, and experimental form. Though the exhibit predominantly showcases art from 1860–1960, Head cleverly bridges past and present. It’s weird, it’s wonderful, and it exemplifies the Hirshhorn’s mission to highlight “cream-of-the-crop” work from its collection while keeping the dialogue between generations of artists alive.
Revolutions: Art from the Hirshhorn Collection 1860–1960 runs through April 20, 2025. It’s a must-see for fans of art history, modernism, and contemporary commentary.
... of our archiitecture walk in Salo. This cafeteria is an former metal factory. Here was arrangetd a memorial party of our friend Ger (RIP) who was won by King Cancer in summer.
[Sorry, no new photos here for a few days...]
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.
Usually I create an image and then think of the title. This was the other way around as I couldn't resist the association.
Magic mushrooms are a family also know as psychedelic mushrooms or Psilocybin mushrooms. These aren't they, by the way, but it's an irresistible title :)
To quote Wikipedia, "They are used mainly as an entheogen and recreational drug whose effects can include euphoria, altered thinking processes, closed and open-eye visuals, synesthesia, an altered sense of time and spiritual experiences." So there you go... (quite literally by the sounds :) )
This was created using Topaz Glow starting with the Oil Spill preset, but then adding Depth of Field Blur in Affinity Photo, a vignette and various exposure tweaks.
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!
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.
This remarkable street running is made even more special by story behind it, since prior to this trip none of us even knew it existed. One evening while we were hanging out at the Salisbury depot after the big 611 celebration that had brought us to Carolina we ran into a long time regular local fan named John who was an ex original Norfolk Southern (pre-74) engineer. He told us about the street running on a surviving portion of the original NS down in Fayetteville that the modern NS still serves with tri weekly with local out of Varina. Being that Friday was our day that we planned to head off to hunt the Aberdeen and Rockfish anyway we crossed our fingers and headed out. Low and behold luck was with us, as shortly after we arrived in Fayetteville we heard NS E25 (the symbol for the branchline local) crackle on the radio and we knew we were in luck.
We were rewarded with multitude of shots of this train on the half mile long section of street running as well as working the A&R interchange. In this view we see the arriving southbound train curling out into traffic just north of the Cumberland St. intersection to begin more than a half mile run down Hillsboro St. This is about MP VF42 on the East Carolina Business Unit's Varina to Fayetteville District. Since sold off, classic standard cab SD60 6659 blt. for the NS in Nov. 1988 leads the train.
Fayetteville, North Carolina
Friday May 29, 2015.
Old brick house on Sullivan Trail, Forks Twp. north of Easton, Northampton County, Pennsylvania. There is a date stone on this house so one day when I pass it and traffic isn't horrible I'll check out what date it is. Beautifully crafted brick homes like this one are common around here and most are dated 1840s--1860s. This one is currently vacant again but has been used as office space in recent years. 05-02-13
From Wikipedia:
History
Old roads
Most of what became PA 115 from Easton to Wilkes-Barre was originally a pathway made by General John Sullivan and his forces in 1779 during the American Revolutionary War on their expedition from Easton to the Wyoming Valley. George Washington ordered Sullivan to march upstream the Susquehanna River to join General James Clinton's brigade at the Bradford County town of Tioga (now known as Athens). Soon after, Sullivan's army departed to Newtown, New York where they defeated the Iroquois and Cayuga Indians living in Western New York. His campaign was one of the most important military movements in the American Revolution. The southernmost segment of General Sullivan's path which became part of PA 115 centuries later from Knox Avenue in Easton to PA 512 in Wind Gap is currently designated as Sullivan Trail.[3][4][5]
At the turn of the 19th century, the population and economy of Luzerne County continued to grow and there was a necessity for new roads to improve communication between distant settlements. Most of the early merchandise transportation in the area was done by Durham boats on the Lehigh and Susquehanna Rivers. This led Arnold Colt, a Luzerne County clerk, to construct a turnpike directly connecting the Wyoming and Lehigh Valleys on Sullivan's Trail. Colt then obtained a charter to incorporate the Easton and Wilkes-Barre Turnpike on February 11, 1803. The first 46 miles (74 km) of the turnpike from Wilkes-Barre to Wind Gap were finished by 1807. The road was completed by 1815 at a total expense of US$75,000.[3][6]
They are building a plank road to Slocum Hollow (now Scranton) to get to a railroad and they say that a man can get from Wilkes-Barre to New York in a day. It is almost beyond my belief. I wonder what will become of the old turnpike there is no more use for the old man and the old road.
Honorable Joseph Slocum, former president of the Easton and Wilkes-Barre Turnpike[7]
The turnpike was initially used as major thoroughfare for conveying grains and plaster during War of 1812. When Northampton County farmers could not afford shipped plaster from the Eastern seaboard they became interested in New York plaster. The plaster was transported from New York via the Susquehanna River then onto the turnpike on wagons and sleds. Transporting this product became the turnpike's legacy as it transformed the road into an important commercial line.[7]
By the 1850s, the transport industry heavily favored trains over wagons and sleds. In 1851, the Lackawanna and Western Railroad was completed, connecting Scranton to upstate New York. The new railroad shortened the time required to ship goods between the two endpoints from ten days (by way of roads) to just one. The amount of traffic on the turnpike declined as a result. By the 1850s, the turnpike company had folded and the highway was abandoned.[8] From Bear Creek to Tobyhanna Township the name Easton and Wilkes-Barre Road is still marked on PA 115. The former southern extension of PA 115 from Brodheadsville to Wind Gap is marked as the Wilkes-Barre Turnpike.[9][10]
Designation
Former southernmost alignment of PA 115 in Monroe and Northampton Counties.
When Pennsylvania began maintenance over roads by the way of the Sproul Road Bill in May 1911, the Luzerne County portion of present-day PA 115 was adopted as Legislative Route 169, the primary connector between Wilkes-Barre and the Poconos.[11] The former southernmost segment of the route from Saylorsburg to Easton was adopted as Legislative Route 166.[12] The first traffic routes were assigned in 1924 and by 1927, the state had assigned LR 169 as Pennsylvania Route 15 only to be renumbered the following year as PA 115.[1][13]
When PA 115 was commissioned in 1928, the road was mostly aligned east–west and stretched from US 220 in Montoursville to US 611 in Mount Pocono. From Swiftwater to Tobyhanna Township the road followed present-day PA 940 and PA 314. The former routing from Montoursville to Wilkes-Barre became PA 309, PA 118, PA 154, and PA 87.[14] During the Great Depression, the southern branch of PA 115 was lengthened to US 611 in Easton on the Sullivan Trail and the northern terminus was moved to the Montour County municipality of Mausdale along PA 254 and PA 642.[15][16]
After World War II, PA 115 was extended west to PA 14 (currently PA 405) in Milton on modern PA 642.[4] The northern terminus was moved from Milton to US 220 in Hughesville during the 1950s; this segment of the road followed what is now PA 118. By 1960, PA 115 was moved onto a limited-access road (now PA 33) from Saylorsburg to PA 512.[17] By 1962, the northern terminus of PA 115 was moved from Hughesville to US 309 (now PA 309 Business) in Wilkes-Barre Township.[18] In Wilkes-Barre, it used to followed Kidder Street, Butler Street, Main Street, Courtright Street, Carey Avenue, and crossed the Susquehanna River on Pierce Street.[19]
By 1972, the southern terminus was truncated from Easton to its current location.[20] The portion of PA 115's former surface alignment in Northampton County between Center Square in Easton and PA 191 in Stockertown is now designated as State Route 2025, an unsigned quadrant route.[19][21] PA 115 was extended back to its former alignments by 1980 via Kidder, Scott, Butler, and Pierce Streets through Wilkes-Barre and ended at US 11 in Kingston.[22] The route was truncated to PA 309 at the intersection of Kidder and Spring Streets in Wilkes-Barre by 1989. A year later, the northern terminus was moved to its current location when the North Cross-Valley Expressway (PA 309) was completed.[23][24]
A little less than a month or so ago, my brother designed me a 6-track long functional (weight bearing) single-track train bridge in the real world. (This was designed and built by him in less than a day after I expressed a need for another small-size bridge.) I then added railings and recreated it digitally just in case I had any issues with it or wanted to modify it. This MOC is designed to be slung between two tables, and works beautifully as a single track bridge.
More recently, I decided to add a second track and as such two more sets of latitudinal supports were placed underneath to make it even stronger now that the load it has to carry has doubled. The longitudinal supports were also lengthened to support the larger bridge deck and the second track.
This thing is built using many layers of overlapping plates and bricks. It is SOLID, though the endpoints that rest on the table without support underneath could be a weak point if a heavy enough train crosses the bridge. I'll have to see about modifying it to correct this slight oversight.
RheinBahn AG emr 2508 is aan het driehoeken aan het eindpunt van lijn 708 in Hamm (uitloper van een stadslijn. De bestuurder steekt nu, met bediening op een mini controller, achteruit met zijn tramstel. Zo te zien is "zus", net rechts in beeld, niet zo heel blij dat ze haar (groot)moeder mag helpen met het werken in de tuinderij.
RheinBahn AG emu 2508 is riding through the first section from the triangel to get reversed at the end off line 708. This endpoint off the cityline 708 lies in the small village called Hamm wich is a part off Dusseldorf. It seems to me that the girl to the right is not very pleased that she had to help het (grand)mother with the work in the fields.
X marks the spot
Theme Description: The phrase “X marks the spot” often refers to a specific location, target, or goal. For this theme we want to see what your doll(s) is after. Is your doll a pirate following a map to a hidden treasure chest full of gold? Is your doll vacationing in a foreign city and following his/her visitors map to popular landmarks? Perhaps your doll is an entertainer and an X has been marked on the stage floor to show him/her where to stand. Or maybe your doll is an athlete practicing archery or crossing a finish line of a race. The only requirement for this theme is that there must be a doll and a marked endpoint or desired target somewhere in your photo.
This Photo: Crossed cords count as an "X", yes?
This photo is part of a series. I don't want to explain too much, so I only say the "X" might mark a beginning and Mademoiselle Jolie might be the desired target.
Mademoiselle Jolie, Just a Tease
Deze tram daarentegen komt van de Lange Vijverberg en draait hier links de Buitenhof op.
Voor deze lijn 17 Wateringen - Centrum worden de nieuwe R-Net trams gebruikt. Deze trams zijn toegankelijk voor iedereen. Een ruime open instap en dus makkelijk reizen voor mensen met een buggy, rollator of rolstoel.
Aangezien ook wij met een buggy onderweg waren, is dit ook het tramtype dat wij gebruikt hebben tijdens onze verplaatsingen. Fraai vormgegeven vind ik ze wel, zowel in interieur als langs de buitenzijde.
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At the same crossing but in the opposite direction this new R-Net tram is heading to its endpoint Centrum.
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Den Haag Buitenhof, 03/04/2017
HTM 5027
Lijn 17 Wateringen - Centrum