View allAll Photos Tagged omnipresent

Continuing with Cameraderie forum joint effort for regular shooting in January; on the seventeenth day, we change to color, but the fog is still omnipresent. Shot with Minolta 50mm f1.4 lens mounted via speedbooster on Sony A6000, two frames stitched.

Países Bajos - Haarzuilens - Castillo de Haar

 

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www.kasteeldehaar.nl

 

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ENGLISH:

 

The oldest historical record of a building at the location of the current castle dates to 1391. In that year, the De Haar family received the castle and the surrounding lands as a fiefdom from Hendrik van Woerden. The castle remained in the ownership of the De Haar family until 1440, when the last male heir died childless. The castle then passed to the Van Zuylen family. In 1482, the castle was burned down and the walls were destroyed, except for the parts that did not have a military function. These parts probably were incorporated into the castle when it was rebuilt during the early 16th century. The castle is mentioned in an inventory of the possessions of Steven van Zuylen from 1506, and again in a list of fiefdoms in the province Utrecht from 1536. The oldest image of the castle dates to 1554 and shows that the castle had been largely rebuilt by then. After 1641, when Johan van Zuylen van de Haar died childless, the castle seems to have gradually fallen into ruins. The castle escaped total destruction by the French during the Rampjaar 1672.

 

In 1801 the last Catholic van Zuylen in the Netherlands, the bachelor Anton-Martinus van Zuylen van Nijevelt (1708–1801), bequeathed the property to his cousin Jean-Jacques van Zuylen van Nyevelt (1752–1846) of the Catholic branch in the Southern Netherlands.

 

In 1887, Jean-Jacques' grandson, Etienne Gustave Frédéric Baron van Zuylen van Nyevelt van de Haar (1860–1934), married Baroness Hélène de Rothschild, of the Rothschild family. When Etienne inherited the ruined castle in 1890 from his grandfather, the couple set about rebuilding the castle, fully financed by Hélène's family. For the restoration of the castle, they contracted famous architect Pierre Cuypers. He would work on this project for 20 years (from 1892 to 1912). The castle has 200 rooms and 30 bathrooms, of which only a small number on the ground and first floor have been opened to be viewed by the public. Cuypers placed a statue of himself in a corner of the gallery on the first floor.

 

The castle was equipped by Cuypers with the most modern gadgets, such as electrical lighting with its own generator, and central heating by way of steam. This installation is internationally recognized as an industrial monument. The kitchen was for that period also very modern and still has a large collection of copper pots and pans and an enormous furnace approximately 6 metres long, which is heated with peat or coals. The tiles in the kitchen are decorated with the coats of arms of the families De Haar and Van Zuylen, which were for this purpose especially baked in Franeker. Cuypers emphasized the difference between the old and new walls by using different kinds of bricks. For the interior Cuypers made extensive use of cast iron.

 

Many details in the castle refer to the Rothschild family, such as the Stars of David on the balconies of the knight's hall and the coat of arms of the family right underneath on the hearth in the library. The coat of arms of the Van Zuylen family are omnipresent. Their motto is on the hearth in the knight's hall (A majoribus et virtute)

 

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ESPAÑOL:

 

El Castillo de Haar (en neerlandés: Kasteel de Haar) se encuentra cerca de Haarzuilens, en la provincia de Utrecht en los Países Bajos.​ Los edificios actuales, todos construidos a partir de 1892 sobre el castillo original del siglo XIV, son obra del arquitecto holandés Pierre Cuypers, en un proyecto de restauración neogótica financiado por la familia Rothschild.

 

El más antiguo registro histórico de un edificio en la ubicación del castillo actual data de 1391. En ese año, la familia De Haar recibió el castillo y las tierras circundantes como feudo de Hendrik van Woerden. El castillo permaneció en la propiedad de la familia De Haar hasta 1440, cuando el último heredero varón murió sin hijos. Pasó entonces a manos de una rama lejana de la familia, los van Zuylen, y ya a finales del siglo XIX, Etienne Gustave Frédéric, barón de van Zuylen van Nyevelt van de Haar, casado con Hélène de Rothschild pudo restaurarlo.

 

Gandhara is the name given to an ancient region or province invaded in 326 B.C. by Alexander the Great, who took Charsadda (ancient Puskalavati) near present-day Peshawar (ancient Purusapura) and then marched eastward across the Indus into the Punjab as far as the Beas river (ancient Vipasa). Gandhara constituted the undulating plains, irrigated by the Kabul River from the Khyber Pass area, the contemporary boundary between Pakistan and Afganistan, down to the Indus River and southward towards the Murree hills and Taxila (ancient Taksasila), near Pakistan"s present capital, Islamabad. Its art, however, during the first centuries of the Christian era, had adopted a substantially larger area, together with the upper stretches of the Kabul River, the valley of Kabul itself, and ancient Kapisa, as well as Swat and Buner towards the north.

   

A great deal of Gandhara sculptures has survived dating from the first to probably as late as the sixth or even the seventh century but in a remarkably homogeneous style. Most of the arts were almost always in a blue-gray mica schist, though sometimes in a green phyllite or in stucco, or very rarely in terracotta. Because of the appeal of its Western classical aesthetic for the British rulers of India, schooled to admire all things Greek and Roman, a great deal found its way into private hands or the shelter of museums.

  

Gandhara sculpture primarily comprised Buddhist monastic establishments. These monasteries provided a never-ending gallery for sculptured reliefs of the Buddha and Bodhisattvas. The Gandhara stupas were comparatively magnified and more intricate, but the most remarkable feature, which distinguished the Gandhara stupas from the pervious styles were hugely tiered umbrellas at its peak, almost soaring over the total structure. The abundance of Gandharan sculpture was an art, which originated with foreign artisans.

  

In the excavation among the varied miscellany of small bronze figures, though not often like Alexandrian imports, four or five Buddhist bronzes are very late in date. These further illustrate the aura of the Gandhara art. Relics of mural paintings though have been discovered, yet the only substantial body of painting, in Bamiyan, is moderately late, and much of it belongs to an Iranian or central Asian rather than an Indian context. Non-narrative themes and architectural ornament were omnipresent at that time. Mythical figures and animals such as atlantes, tritons, dragons, and sea serpents derive from the same source, although there is the occasional high-backed, stylized creature associated with the Central Asian animal style. Moldings and cornices are decorated mostly with acanthus, laurel, and vine, though sometimes with motifs of Indian, and occasionally ultimately western Asian, origin: stepped merlons, lion heads, vedikas, and lotus petals. It is worth noting that architectural elements such as pillars, gable ends, and domes as represented in the reliefs tend to follow the Indian forms

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Gandhara became roughly a Holy Land of Buddhism and excluding a handful of Hindu images, sculpture took the form either of Buddhist sect objects, Buddha and Bodhisattvas, or of architectural embellishment for Buddhist monasteries. The more metaphorical kinds are demonstrated by small votive stupas, and bases teeming with stucco images and figurines that have lasted at Jaulian and Mora Moradu, outpost monasteries in the hills around Taxila. Hadda, near the present town of Jalalabad, has created some groups in stucco of an almost rococo while more latest works of art in baked clay, with strong Hellenistic influence, have been revealed there, in what sums up as tiny chapels. It is not known exactly why stucco, an imported Alexandrian modus operandi, was used. It is true that grey schist is not found near Taxila, however other stones are available, and in opposition to the ease of operating with stucco, predominantly the artistic effects which can be achieved, must be set with its impermanence- fresh deposits frequently had to be applied. Excluding possibly at Taxila, its use emerges to have been a late expansion.

  

Architectural fundamentals of the Gandhara art, like pillars, gable ends and domes as showcased in the reliefs, were inclined to follow Indian outlines, but the pilaster with capital of Corinthian type, abounds and in one-palace scene Persepolitan columns go along with Roman coffered ceilings. The so-called Shrine of the Double-Headed Eagle at Sirkap, in actuality a stupa pedestal, well demonstrates this enlightening eclecticism- the double-headed bird on top of the chaitya arch is an insignia of Scythian origin, which appears as a Byzantine motif and materialises much later in South India as the ga1J.qa-bheru1J.qa in addition to atop European armorial bearings.

 

In Gandhara art the descriptive friezes were all but invariably Buddhist, and hence Indian in substance- one depicted a horse on wheels nearing a doorway, which might have represented the Trojan horse affair, but this is under scan. The Dioscuri, Castor and Pollux, familiar from the previous Greek-based coinage of the region, appeared once or twice as standing figurines, presumably because as a pair, they tallied an Indian mithuna couple. There were also female statuettes, corresponding to city goddesses. Though figures from Butkara, near Saidan Sharif in Swat, were noticeably more Indian in physical type, and Indian motifs were in abundance there. Sculpture was, in the main, Hellenistic or Roman, and the art of Gandhara was indeed "the easternmost appearance of the art of the Roman Empire, especially in its late and provincial manifestations". Furthermore, naturalistic portrait heads, one of the high-points of Roman sculpture, were all but missing in Gandhara, in spite of the episodic separated head, probably that of a donor, with a discernible feeling of uniqueness. Some constitutions and poses matched those from western Asia and the Roman world; like the manner in which a figure in a recurrently instanced scene from the Dipankara jataka had prostrated himself before the future Buddha, is reverberated in the pose of the defeated before the defeater on a Trojanic frieze on the Arch of Constantine and in later illustrations of the admiration of the divinised emperor. One singular recurrently occurring muscular male figure, hand on sword, witnessed in three-quarters view from the backside, has been adopted from western classical sculpture. On occasions standing figures, even the Buddha, deceived the elusive stylistic actions of the Roman sculptor, seeking to express majestas. The drapery was fundamentally Western- the folds and volume of dangling garments were carved with realness and gusto- but it was mainly the persistent endeavours at illusionism, though frequently obscured by unrefined carving, which earmarked the Gandhara sculpture as based on a western classical visual impact.

  

The distinguishing Gandhara sculpture, of which hundreds if not thousands of instances have outlived, is the standing or seated Buddha. This flawlessly reproduces the necessary nature of Gandhara art, in which a religious and an artistic constituent, drawn from widely varied cultures have been bonded. The iconography is purely Indian. The seated Buddha is mostly cross-legged in the established Indian manner. However, forthcoming generations, habituated to think of the Buddha as a monk, and unable to picture him ever possessing long hair or donning a turban, came to deduce the chigon as a "cranial protuberance", singular to Buddha. But Buddha is never depicted with a shaved head, as are the Sangha, the monks; his short hair is clothed either in waves or in taut curls over his whole head. The extended ears are merely due to the downward thrust of the heavy ear-rings worn by a prince or magnate; the distortion of the ear-lobes is especially visible in Buddha, who, in Gandhara, never wore ear-rings or ornaments of any kind. As Foucher puts it, the Gandhara Buddha is at a time a monk without shaving and a prince stripped off jewellery.

  

The western classical factor rests in the style, in the handling of the robe, and in the physiognomy of Buddha. The cloak, which covers all but the appendages (though the right shoulder is often bared), is dealt like in Greek and Roman sculptures; the heavy folds are given a plastic flair of their own, and only in poorer or later works do they deteriorate into indented lines, fairly a return to standard Indian practice. The "western" treatment has caused Buddha"s garment to be misidentified for a toga; but a toga is semicircular, while, Buddha wore a basic, rectangular piece of cloth, i.e., the samghiifi, a monk"s upper garment. The head gradually swerves towards a hieratic stylisation, but at its best, it is naturalistic and almost positively based on the Greek Apollo, undoubtedly in Hellenistic or Roman copies.

 

Gandhara art also had developed at least two species of image, i.e. not part of the frieze, in which Buddha is the fundamental figure of an event in his life, distinguished by accompanying figures and a detailed mise-en-scene. Perhaps the most remarkable amongst these is the Visit to the Indrasala Cave, of which the supreme example is dated in the year 89, almost unquestionably of the Kanishka period. Indra and his harpist are depicted on their visit in it. The small statuettes of the visitors emerge below, an elephant describing Indra. The more general among these detailed images, of which approximately 30 instances are known, is presumably related with the Great Miracle of Sravasti. In one such example, one of the adjoining Bodhisattvas is distinguished as Avalokiteshwara by the tiny seated Buddha in his headgear. Other features of these images include the unreal species of tree above Buddha, the spiky lotus upon which he sits, and the effortlessly identifiable figurines of Indra and Brahma on both sides.

  

Another important aspect of the Gandhara art was the coins of the Graeco-Bactrians. The coins of the Graeco-Bactrians - on the Greek metrological standard, equals the finest Attic examples and of the Indo-Greek kings, which have until lately served as the only instances of Greek art found in the subcontinent. The legendary silver double decadrachmas of Amyntas, possibly a remembrance issue, are the biggest "Greek" coins ever minted, the largest cast in gold, is the exceptional decadrachma of the same king in the Bibliotheque Nationale, with the Dioscuri on the inverse. Otherwise, there was scanty evidence until recently of Greek or Hellenistic influences in Gandhara. A manifestation of Greek metropolitan planning is furnished by the rectilinear layouts of two cities of the 1st centuries B.C./A.D.--Sirkap at Taxila and Shaikhan Pheri at Charsadda. Remains of the temple at Jandial, also at Taxila and presumably dating back to 1st century B.C., also includes Greek characteristics- remarkably the huge base mouldings and the Ionic capitals of the colossal portico and antechamber columns. In contrast, the columns or pilasters on the immeasurable Gandhara friezes (when they are not in a Indian style), are consistently coronated by Indo-Corinthian capitals, the local version of the Corinthian capital- a certain sign of a comparatively later date.

 

The notable Begram hoard confirms articulately to the number and multiplicity of origin of the foreign artefacts imported into Gandhara. This further illustrates the foreign influence in the Gandhara art. Parallel hoards have been found in peninsular India, especially in Kolhapur in Maharashtra, but the imported wares are sternly from the Roman world. At Begram the ancient Kapisa, near Kabul, there are bronzes, possibly of Alexandrian manufacture, in close proximity with emblemata (plaster discs, certainly meant as moulds for local silversmiths), bearing reliefs in the purest classical vein, Chinese lacquers and Roman glass. The hoard was possibly sealed in mid-3rd century, when some of the subjects may have been approximately 200 years old "antiques", frequently themselves replicates of classical Greek objects. The plentiful ivories, consisting in the central of chest and throne facings, engraved in a number of varied relief techniques, were credibly developed somewhere between Mathura and coastal Andhra. Some are of unrivalled beauty. Even though a few secluded instances of early Indian ivory carving have outlived, including the legendary mirror handle from Pompeii, the Begram ivories are the only substantial collection known until moderately in present times of what must always have been a widespread craft. Other sites, particularly Taxila, have generated great many instances of such imports, some from India, some, like the appealing tiny bronze figure of Harpocrates, undoubtedly from Alexandria. Further cultural influences are authenticated by the Scytho Sarmatian jewellery, with its characteristic high-backed carnivores, and by a statue of St. Peter. But all this should not cloud the all-important truth that the immediately identifiable Gandhara style was the prevailing form of artistic manifestation throughout the expanse for several centuries, and the magnitude of its influence on the art of central Asia and China and as far as Japan, allows no doubt about its integrity and vitality.

 

In the Gandhara art early Buddhist iconography drew heavily on traditional sources, incorporating Hindu gods and goddesses into a Buddhist pantheon and adapting old folk tales to Buddhist religious purposes. Kubera and Harm are probably the best-known examples of this process.

  

Five dated idols from Gandhara art though exist, however the hitch remains that the era is never distinguished. The dates are in figures under 100 or else in 300s. Moreover one of the higher numbers are debatable, besides, the image upon which it is engraved is not in the conventional Andhra style. The two low-number-dated idols are the most sophisticated and the least injured. Their pattern is classical Gandhara. The most undemanding rendition of their dates relates them to Kanishka and 78 A.D. is assumed as the commencement of his era. They both fall in the second half of the 2nd century A.D. and equally later, if a later date is necessitated for the beginning of Kanishka`s time. This calculation nearly parallels numismatics and archaeological evidences. The application of other eras, like the Vikrama (base date- 58 B.C.) and the Saka (base date- 78 A.D.), would place them much later. The badly battered figurines portray standing Buddhas, without a head of its own, but both on original figured plinths. They come to view as depicting the classical Gandhara style; decision regarding where to place these two dated Buddhas, both standing, must remain knotty till more evidence comes out as to how late the classical Gandhara panache had continued.

   

Methodical study of the Gandhara art, and specifically about its origins and expansion, is befuddled with numerous problems, not at least of which is the inordinately complex history and culture of the province. It is one of the great ethnical crossroads of the world simultaneously being in the path of all the intrusions of India for over three millennia. Bussagli has rightly remarked, `More than any other Indian region, Gandhara was a participant in the political and cultural events that concerned the rest of the Asian continent`.

   

However, Systematic study of the art of Gandhara, and particularly of its origins and development, is bedeviled by many problems, not the least of which is the extraordinarily complex history and culture of the region.

   

In spite of the labours of many scholars over the past hundred and fifty years, the answers to some of the most important questions, such as the number of centuries spanned by the art of Gandhara, still await, fresh archaeological, inscriptional, or numismatic evidence.

 

en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gandhara

 

en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gautama_Buddha

Détail de la façade de l'ex-Ministère de l'Économie et des Finances, Montreuil, France.

 

See on Fluidr or View On Black

 

La brique omniprésente et les menuiseries à double étage rappellent l'histoire métallière de l'ancien site de la Société Parisienne de Tranchage et de Déroulage, dont la porte d'entrée subsiste à quelques dizaines de mètres de là.

 

Architecte: Gregotti Associati, 2005

 

© 2010 Jean Lemoine - Tous droits réservés.

Divinity is an omnipresent energy......

Carve your heart with goodness and devotion and glow from within will not be difficult........

 

Flickr Explored!

En Bizkaia hay una tradición muy arraigada (casi sagrada para muchos) entre los mendigoizales y los no tan aficionados a la montaña. Este ritual consiste en subir a la simbólica cruz de Gorbea la mañana del 31 de diciembre o la mañana de año nuevo.

 

Estos días (sobre todo el 31) Gorbea se convierte en una fiesta muy concurrida en la que cientos de personas se animan a disfrutar del buen ambiente y la diversión que allí se respira.

Gorbeia es un tradicional punto de referencia del montañismo vasco. Se dice que todo buen vasco debe subirlo al menos una vez a lo largo de su vida, teniendo en cuenta este mito, podemos decir que Euskal Herria está lleno de buenos vascos porque Gorbea es uno de los montes más frecuentados.

 

Para muchos el verdadero atractivo de Gorbea es que se puede ascender desde innumerables lugares (todos tienen su encanto). Se puede subir desde Zarate, desde el espolón de Igiñeger. Desde el alto de Barazar, desde Zeanuri, desde Ubide, desde Sarria, desde Pagomakurre… Subamos por donde subamos siempre tenemos presente la omnipresente y majestuosa cruz de Gorbea.

Quand la livrée "Transilien SNCF-STIF" était encore omniprésente sur les Z 50000...

Depuis quelques mois, toutes les rames circulent avec la livrée "Île-de-France Mobilités", trop monotone et pauvre en couleurs à mon goût.

It's been raining 22 straight days in Oregon. But every now and then there's a break in the omnipresent clouds and we're presented with this reward.

Países Bajos - Haarzuilens - Castillo de Haar

 

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www.kasteeldehaar.nl/

 

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ENGLISH:

 

The oldest historical record of a building at the location of the current castle dates to 1391. In that year, the De Haar family received the castle and the surrounding lands as a fiefdom from Hendrik van Woerden. The castle remained in the ownership of the De Haar family until 1440, when the last male heir died childless. The castle then passed to the Van Zuylen family. In 1482, the castle was burned down and the walls were destroyed, except for the parts that did not have a military function. These parts probably were incorporated into the castle when it was rebuilt during the early 16th century. The castle is mentioned in an inventory of the possessions of Steven van Zuylen from 1506, and again in a list of fiefdoms in the province Utrecht from 1536. The oldest image of the castle dates to 1554 and shows that the castle had been largely rebuilt by then. After 1641, when Johan van Zuylen van de Haar died childless, the castle seems to have gradually fallen into ruins. The castle escaped total destruction by the French during the Rampjaar 1672.

 

In 1801 the last Catholic van Zuylen in the Netherlands, the bachelor Anton-Martinus van Zuylen van Nijevelt (1708–1801), bequeathed the property to his cousin Jean-Jacques van Zuylen van Nyevelt (1752–1846) of the Catholic branch in the Southern Netherlands.

 

In 1887, Jean-Jacques' grandson, Etienne Gustave Frédéric Baron van Zuylen van Nyevelt van de Haar (1860–1934), married Baroness Hélène de Rothschild, of the Rothschild family. When Etienne inherited the ruined castle in 1890 from his grandfather, the couple set about rebuilding the castle, fully financed by Hélène's family. For the restoration of the castle, they contracted famous architect Pierre Cuypers. He would work on this project for 20 years (from 1892 to 1912). The castle has 200 rooms and 30 bathrooms, of which only a small number on the ground and first floor have been opened to be viewed by the public. Cuypers placed a statue of himself in a corner of the gallery on the first floor.

 

The castle was equipped by Cuypers with the most modern gadgets, such as electrical lighting with its own generator, and central heating by way of steam. This installation is internationally recognized as an industrial monument. The kitchen was for that period also very modern and still has a large collection of copper pots and pans and an enormous furnace approximately 6 metres long, which is heated with peat or coals. The tiles in the kitchen are decorated with the coats of arms of the families De Haar and Van Zuylen, which were for this purpose especially baked in Franeker. Cuypers emphasized the difference between the old and new walls by using different kinds of bricks. For the interior Cuypers made extensive use of cast iron.

 

Many details in the castle refer to the Rothschild family, such as the Stars of David on the balconies of the knight's hall and the coat of arms of the family right underneath on the hearth in the library. The coat of arms of the Van Zuylen family are omnipresent. Their motto is on the hearth in the knight's hall (A majoribus et virtute)

 

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ESPAÑOL:

 

El Castillo de Haar (en neerlandés: Kasteel de Haar) se encuentra cerca de Haarzuilens, en la provincia de Utrecht en los Países Bajos.​ Los edificios actuales, todos construidos a partir de 1892 sobre el castillo original del siglo XIV, son obra del arquitecto holandés Pierre Cuypers, en un proyecto de restauración neogótica financiado por la familia Rothschild.

 

El más antiguo registro histórico de un edificio en la ubicación del castillo actual data de 1391. En ese año, la familia De Haar recibió el castillo y las tierras circundantes como feudo de Hendrik van Woerden. El castillo permaneció en la propiedad de la familia De Haar hasta 1440, cuando el último heredero varón murió sin hijos. Pasó entonces a manos de una rama lejana de la familia, los van Zuylen, y ya a finales del siglo XIX, Etienne Gustave Frédéric, barón de van Zuylen van Nyevelt van de Haar, casado con Hélène de Rothschild pudo restaurarlo.

When Kerri was at the University of Chicago and I was visiting she took me to hear E. O. Wilson, the world's foremost scientist on ants and Pulitzer Prize winner. He spoke and showed photos for 2 hours and I thought I'd be bored out of my gourd but was instead fascinated.

 

“Ants control every millimetre of the Earth’s surface wherever they live, which is most places,” says Mark Moffett, an entomologist at the Smithsonian Institute in Washington DC, US, who in 2011 published a book called Adventures Among Ants.

 

When they swarmed my kitchen counters a few weeks ago for days I hated them with a passion but we do share the world with them. Estimates of ant population vary from 10 trillion to a million trillion. Makes your skin crawl to think about it.

Esta foto, tomada el primer dia de viaje por Asturias resume, de alguna manera, lo que luego vi y sentí, los siguientes días. Locomotoras 251 haberlas, hailas, pero han sido sustituidas en algunos cometidos en los que hasta ahora eran omnipresentes, como los trenes siderúrgicos desde/hacia Trasona por locomotoras 253 en doble tracción. Tambien ví 251 en Cantabria dias después y creo que fueron tambien a hacer los carboneros del Tarragona-Samper aunque no se si continuaran después del "galibazo" que alguna se dio en agún tunel que otro de la línea. ¿Dispersión de las 251? ¿Principio del fin de las 251 en Asturias? ¿Donde se hará su mantenimiento a partir de ahora?

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Yeah i know...another snap of the lighthouse but the little curly waves and the light on the water with the omnipresent dark moody clouds just caught the attention...

If you believe in moderation as a foundational philosophical principle, the Hoh Rainforest in Olympic National Park, Washington, might not be for you. Mosses cover, drape from and envelop nearly everything that stays still for very long, and the excess of mosses goes so far that different types of moss often appear to overtake each other (I wonder whether in Darwinian competition or in symbiosis?). The sensory result as you might imagine is tremendous beauty, as it often is when nature's greatest exuberances are on full display.

 

This semi-closeup is of a stand of conifers of some sort, with all but their topmost branches long having exchanged needles for vibrant coats of mosses. I became somewhat obsessed with trying to interestingly photograph these scenes where the moss-laden branches of nearby trees interlocked like impenetrable emerald turnstiles. It's a bit of a jumble to be sure, but if the goal is to show how omnipresent, or immoderate, the moss coverage is in many parts of the Hoh, this might do the trick.

 

Thanks for viewing!

 

Just hauled out some dead ferns that have been hanging in my office all winter. They weren't dead when I brought them in last autumn. They were actually still viable at the time. However it's been a slow death since then. No amount of nurturing seemed to sustain them over the winter season. The inside air is parched dry from the furnace, and the omnipresent darkness of winter surely doesn't help. The odd part is how this ritual repeats itself every year despite the certainty of failure. I'm under no illusion that I will succeed in keeping the plants alive, but still I try. There's always that sense of initial optimism when the room is filled with lush green leaves. In my mind's eye, they will be giving off an endless supply of precious oxygen while absorbing carbon dioxide. But the reality is they begin dying the very first week. It just takes a while to notice.

 

When I brought them outside last week, they were a depressing vestige of their former selves. The contrast was especially acute amid the brilliant greens of early May. It was much the same feeling as I explored this abandoned house. It jutted up from the ground like an off-sized toadstool, drab and colorless against a vibrant springtime landscape.

Die ICE-T Züge wurden von der DB AG beschafft um auf Strecken mit engeren Kurvenradien ein hochwertiges Fernverkehrsangebot zu bieten. Auf der Route Wien - Frankfurt/Dortmund sind die Züge seit Jahren allgegenwärtig. Bei Hagenbüchach beschleunigt der ICE aus Wien gerade aus der Kurve und eilt seinem nächsten Haltepunkt Würzburg Hbf entgegen.

  

Bow-fast

 

The ICE-T trains were purchased by DB AG in order to offer high-quality long-distance transport on routes with narrow curves. Trains have been omnipresent on the Vienna - Frankfurt/Dortmund route for years. At Hagenbüchach, the ICE from Vienna is accelerating out of the curve and rushing towards its next stop, Würzburg Hbf.

I met some very nice people here in Beijing, and also some very bad people. Especially when it comes to business you cannot trust anyone in Beijing (friends excepted). There is also a great contrast in the cultural heritage in Beijing and the omnipresent potlics. For example my second day in Beijing I went to the Tiananmen Square with it`s mostly political history and the great protrait of Mao. You have to pass through under this big portrait of Chairman Mao to enter the old forbidden city.

I think in this way old and new are connected to each other. Before the Ming and Qing rulers reigned the country from the forbidden city. Now it is ruled by the communist party. The Peoples Congress is just located westwards of the Tiananmen Square. There are meticulous controls if you want to enter Tiananmen Square, that is if you are Chinese. :-))

If you look at the picture above you can see that the light in Beijing is also very harsh and provides a big contrast. I am here for six days now. And every day we had this cloudless sky and direct sunlight. I think this extreme weather (winter cold, summer hot and always dry) has done its bit to shape the character of the Beijing people. More about that later... :-))

Tomorrow I go over to Chegdu, the capital of Sichuan Province, which is famous for it`s hot food and teehouses.

The Lotus Temple Delhi, India

This is one of the most famous and most popular buildings in India. However it was only inaugurated in 1986. The temple lies south of New Delhi and has a unique and impressive design in the shape of a lotus flower, India’s symbol for peace, purity, love and immortality.

The Lotus Temple is an impressive building that consists of 27 elegant flower petals. The closer you get, the more impressive these enormous petals look. The Lotus consists of 3 rows of 9 petals. The first 2 rows point up and reach 34 metres at their highest point. The 3rd row curls outwards, giving the temple a sense of openness. The petals are used as awnings. As the lotus grows in water, the flower is surrounded by 9 ponds, also in the shape of lotus petals. The rays of light that shine through the domes and the roof, illuminating the white walls, create a magical ambiance.

The 28-year old Canadian architect Fariborz Sahba was given the honour of designing the Bahá’i temple. He travelled to India for inspiration and spiritual guidance. During his trip, Sahba realised that symbols play a very important role throughout the country. The lotus flower in particular was omnipresent. In addition, he learned that other religions also embrace this flower as a symbol of spirituality. So he chose not only an elegant design but also a symbol that is a perfect match for a welcoming religion.

The elegant details in the design made the construction of the marble Lotus Temple quite a challenge. Up to 800 people worked for 10 years on the construction. There was even a school and day care for the children of the workers. One of the last tasks was the ceiling. A decorative golden plate was placed in the heart of the lotus flower, at the highest point of the structure. The plate includes the name of Bahá'u’lláh, founder of the faith, engraved as a symbol of unity. The combination of the gold and light that pours in through the windows create a magical ambiance. Interesting fact: even the Bahá'í followers from Iran who were imprisoned for their religious belief, worked in prison to earn money to contribute to the golden symbol of this temple. The hard work paid off: the Lotus Temple has been hailed as a 20th-century masterpiece.

 

Ville Saint-Basile-le-Grand, Québec

 

"...c'est finalement en 1876 qu'ouvre l'église." Source: www.ville.saint-basile-le-grand.qc.ca/ville/portrait/histoire-patrimoine

 

En 1876, une fois l’acte de répartition finalisé, on procède à la construction de l’église. Elle est de style néo-gothique – avec notamment des formes d’ogives omniprésentes – en pierre des champs, avec façade en pierre « piquée au marteau ». Les paroissiens ont été invités à une corvée de pierres. Le plan général de l’église est de type « récollet », c’est-à-dire avec rétrécissement à l’entrée du chœur permettant l’installation de deux autels latéraux. Il est intéressant de noter que l’église de Saint-Basile-le-Grand est la plus petite du diocèse de Saint-Jean. Source: www.unitesaintbasilesaintbruno.org

 

Construction de l'Église en 1876 Source: Au fil du temps... Notes chronologiques

 

Mont Saint-Bruno in the background, on the right.

Mont-Saint-Bruno à l'arrière-plan, à droite.

A few days ago, I went exploring the Vallée des Fantômes, with my brother Renald(lefion) and my friend Julien (Abo)...we were alone on the summit for about 2 hours....it was a magical experience that I will never forget.

________________________________________________________________________

 

:::: BIGGER is recommended....I really think it is better for your eyes and soul!

 

:::: Latest!

 

:::: Have a coffee!

 

:: The Snowshoers, Monts-Valin National Park, Québec, Canada.

Copyright © 2009 Gaëtan Bourque. All rights reserved. Use without permission is illegal.

 

The Vallée des Fantômes

The phantoms inhabit the valley at an altitude of 800 metres near the clear peaks. The trees are so well protected from winds that blowing snow from nearby summits causes up to three metres of snow accumulation, decking out the evergreens with a layer of soft snow that eventually camouflages them completely. These are the phantoms. It is guaranteed that you will experience a total change of scenery! After a good snowfall, the atmosphere is muted, the ground seems to be carpeted in cotton batten and the silence is omnipresent.

 

Panorama 360º done by my friend Julien (Abo) ... a must!

IN ENGLISH BELOW THE LINE

 

Aquestes fotografies varen ser fetes pel meu pare cap a inicis dels anys 60, en diapositives de format mitjà (120), segurament amb una càmera Rolleiflex.

 

Aquesta imatge em va costar molt de identificar, ja que, per fotos similars del meu pare, em semblava que era Torí, però no encaixava amb cap plaça d'allà tot i les omnipresents porxades. Finalment, gracies al identificador d'imatges de Google, vaig trobar que és la porta d'entrada de la catedral de Como, també a Italia. En concret és el Broletto (edifici per a assemblees populars), al costat de la catedral mateixa.

 

maps.app.goo.gl/Aos9Yqyj5EbXrwQk7

 

======================

 

These color slides were taken by my father in the early 60's (c.1961-64) in a 6x6 120 format camera, most probably a Rolleiflex.

 

This image was hard for me to identify, as it seemed to me from similar photos of my father that it was Turin, but it did not fit any square there despite the ubiquitous porches. Finally, thanks to Google Image ID, I found that it is the front door of Como Cathedral, also in Italy. In fact the vaults are part of the Broletto, or medieval meeting hall.

 

maps.app.goo.gl/Aos9Yqyj5EbXrwQk7

Roti (Evry, 05/2016)

 

Cette fresque peu paraître douce : c'est l'histoire du corbeau et du renard mais le Renard écrit avec une plume du Corbeau dans un environnement urbain omniprésent. Il y a beaucoup de symboles, plus ou moins cachés, mais c'est à chacun de les découvrir, de leur donner le sens de sa propre histoire.

 

Gardens by the Bay (« jardins près de la baie ») est un parc naturel urbain situé dans le centre de Singapour.

 

S'étendant sur 101 ha et abritant près de 20 000 espèces différentes de plantes, ce parc fait partie d'une stratégie du gouvernement singapourien visant à transformer la « ville-jardin » en une « ville dans un jardin », avec comme objectif déclaré d'améliorer la qualité de vie en améliorant la verdure et la flore de la cité-État. Cité où la verdure omniprésente fait partie intégrante de son paysage urbain, les espaces verts couvrant plus de 50 % de son territoire.

 

fr.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gardens_by_the_Bay

 

Rochefort-en-Terre, Morbihan, est classé comme l'un des "Plus Beaux Villages de France"..

C'est la pierre, ici omniprésente, qui fait le trait d'union entre ces différents témoignages de l'Histoire.

 

Rochefort-en-Terre, Morbihan, is classified as one of the "Most Beautiful Villages in France".

It is the stone, omnipresent here, which forms the link between these different testimonies of History.

Omniprésent cette année au Bic, on l'entend chanter partout.

Viennese coffee house culture

  

The social practices, the rituals, the elegance create the very specific atmosphere of the Viennese café.[2] Coffee Houses entice with a wide variety of coffee drinks, international newspapers, and pastry creations. Typical for Viennese Coffee Houses are marble tabletops, Thonet chairs, newspaper tables and interior design details in the style of Historicism.[3] The Austrian writer Stefan Zweig described the Viennese Coffee House as an institution of a special kind, "actually a sort of democratic club, open to everyone for the price of a cheap cup of coffee, where every guest can sit for hours with this little offering, to talk, write, play cards, receive post, and above all consume an unlimited number of newspapers and journals."[4] Zweig in fact attributed a good measure of Vienna's cosmopolitan air to the rich daily diet of current and international information offered in the coffee houses.

 

In many classic cafés (for example Café Central and Café Prückel) piano music is played in the evening and social events like literary readings are held. In warmer months, customers can often sit outside in a Schanigarten. Almost all coffee houses provide small food dishes like sausages as well as desserts, cakes and tarts, like Apfelstrudel, Millirahmstrudel, Punschkrapfen and Linzer torte.

 

Unlike some other café traditions around the world, it is completely normal for a customer to linger alone for hours and study the omnipresent newspaper. Along with coffee, the waiter will serve an obligatory glass of cold tap water and during a long stay will often bring additional water unrequested, with the idea to serve the guest with an exemplary sense of attention.

Spooked! Just the other afternoon I saw the sky light up golden as to proclaim God's omnipresent power. I grabbed my camera as there was sure to be a fantastic opportunity for some great snaps. I drove up to the koppie just behind us and was surprised by this wonder. Very little done post shot, upped the sat and dropped exposure.

Gardens by the Bay (« jardins près de la baie ») est un parc naturel urbain situé dans le centre de Singapour.

 

S'étendant sur 101 ha et abritant près de 20 000 espèces différentes de plantes, ce parc fait partie d'une stratégie du gouvernement singapourien visant à transformer la « ville-jardin » en une « ville dans un jardin », avec comme objectif déclaré d'améliorer la qualité de vie en améliorant la verdure et la flore de la cité-État. Cité où la verdure omniprésente fait partie intégrante de son paysage urbain, les espaces verts couvrant plus de 50 % de son territoire.

 

fr.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gardens_by_the_Bay

Gardens by the Bay (« jardins près de la baie ») est un parc naturel urbain situé dans le centre de Singapour.

 

S'étendant sur 101 ha et abritant près de 20 000 espèces différentes de plantes, ce parc fait partie d'une stratégie du gouvernement singapourien visant à transformer la « ville-jardin » en une « ville dans un jardin », avec comme objectif déclaré d'améliorer la qualité de vie en améliorant la verdure et la flore de la cité-État. Cité où la verdure omniprésente fait partie intégrante de son paysage urbain, les espaces verts couvrant plus de 50 % de son territoire.

 

fr.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gardens_by_the_Bay

Cartier Bresson, Capa, Doisneau et tant d'autres... De grands noms de la photo.

A l'heure où nous écrivons ces lignes, il est à parier que ces trois là lèvent les yeux au ciel (où ils sont de toute façon) ou les avoir écarquillés.

En effet, une réaction de " photographes argentiques" qu'on peut comprendre à la vue de cette photo ci-jointe.

On pourrait comparer l'évolution de la photo à celle de l'amour.

Autrefois argentique, la photo était protocolaire : un appareil, une pellicule, un laboratoire.

Chaque photographe prenant son temps pour élaborer une photo. On pourrait alors parler de préliminaires (comme dans l'amour) quand on y pense. Penser sa photo, préparer soigneusement son réglage, l'adapter, bien choisir sa pellicule, se donner rendez-vous avec celle-ci. Puis, une fois la pellicule remplie, l'emmener dans une chambre noire, la révéler, la chouchouter, la découvrir.

Grand chamboulement, d'argentique la photo est devenue numérique. Un passage dans une autre réalité, dans une autre approche.

On s'y est fait, on y a trouvé des avantages et on pensait qu'on en resterait là un moment mais voilà qu'aujourd'hui, dans une société où tout va vite, où l'immédiateté est omniprésente, où la notion de temps n'est plus qu'un vague concept, une nouvelle manière de vivre la photo fait jour (voir la photo).

Certains la comparent au speed dating (vous savez, cette manière de " rencontrer " l'autre, le potentiel amour en 7 minutes); d'autres l'appellent " La Mac Do photo".

Une artiste connue, Zazie, a même tenu à écrire un texte inspiré de cette photo.

La voici donc :

youtu.be/wnH4Yvu_yuM

 

Pour conclure et finir sur une note positive, on peut juste se dire que finalement, l'important est que la passion de la photo n'ait pas faibli (bli, bli, bli).

 

Signé " Délirium aigu"

 

(Désolée pour mon délire sur cette photo mais parfois, faut lâcher les conneries)

Jules Desbois reprend la pose de Léda mais le mythe est détourné pour célébrer le pêché originel et l'union entre le serpent et la femme, représentée en fleur du Mal... Quelle provocation compte tenu de la place de la religion dans la société de l'époque !...

L'univers féminin baudelairien est décidément omniprésent dans les oeuvres de ce grand artiste...

Spring in Auvergne can be summed up in 2 striking and closely-linked elements: running water, flowing happily and noisily across the terrain, and the omnipresent, quieter green that covers the landscape.

 

Le printemps en Auvergne résumé à travers 2 éléments marquants et très liés: l'eau vive, qui s'écoule joyeusement et bruyamment à travers le relief, et le vert omniprésent et plus tranquille, qui tapisse le paysage.

Riquewhir, , Alsace, France.

 

Riquewihr en idioma francés, Reichenweier en alsaciano, es una localidad y comuna francesa situada en el departamento de Alto Rin, en la región de Alsacia.

 

Por su belleza y atractivo turístico es uno de los pueblos distinguidos por la asociación Les plus beaux villages de France.

 

Esta ciudad fortificada rodeada de viñas es una auténtica joya. En el pueblo de Riquewihr abundan las casas de colores con entramado con fachadas decoradas con viejos rótulos. Algunas casas están adornadas con bonitas ventanas saledizas. Las omnipresentes flores y plantas trepadoras refuerzan el atractivo del pueblo.

 

Para descubrir el patrimonio arquitectónico único de Riquewihr, lo mejor es pasear y admirar, en el ocio, los innumerables monumentos. Se puede descubrir el ayuntamiento de estilo neo-clásico. El castillo de Württemberg en 1539 ahora alberga el museo de la comunicación. Además del edificio notable, puede supervisar la posición a través de las edades. El antiguo patio de la Abadía de Autrey desde 1510 tiene un innegable encanto con su torreta ascendente desde el sótano hasta el ático y bóveda con ocho costillas apoyo a una terraza. Va a pasar por el Museo del Dolder. Esta entrada de la puerta fortificada de la ciudad tiene un campanario de 25 metros de altura con una cara exterior bélico y la apariencia benévola en el casco urbano. La torre de los ladrones 1550 es la antigua prisión. Se pueden visitar las cámaras de tortura y mazmorras húmedas donde matones estaban cerradas. Por último, paseando por las calles, se pueden admirar las fachadas de las casas de los siglos XVI y XVII incluidos en el inventario de monumentos históricos. Entre ellos, por nombrar algunos sólo por el bien de sus nombres tan evocador, la antigua casa de tonelería, la casa llamó a los ranúnculo y enólogos de casas esperan en silencio.

 

Riquewihr in French, Reichenweier in Alsatian, is a town and commune in the department of Haut-Rhin in the Alsace region.

 

For its beauty and tourist attraction is one of the villages distinguished by the association Les plus beaux villages de France.

 

This fortified town surrounded by vineyards is a real gem. In the village of Riquewihr, houses with colorful, half-timbered facades adorned with old signs abound. Some houses are adorned with pretty bay windows. The ubiquitous flowers and climbing plants reinforce the appeal of the town.

 

To discover the unique architectural heritage of Riquewihr, the best is to stroll and admire, in leisure, the countless monuments. During your no, you can discover the neo-classical style town hall. The castle of Württemberg in 1539 now houses the Museum of Communication. In addition to the remarkable building, it can monitor the position throughout the ages. The old courtyard of the Abbey of Autrey since 1510 has an undeniable charm with its turret ascending from the basement to the attic and vault with eight ribs supporting a terrace. You will pass by the Dolder Museum. This entrance of the fortified gate of the city has a bell tower of 25 meters of height with an external warlike face and the benevolent appearance in the urban helmet. The tower of the thieves 1550 is the old prison. You can visit the torture chambers and wet dungeons where thugs were closed. Finally, walking through the streets, you can admire the facades of the houses of the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries included in the inventory of historical monuments. Among them, to name a few just for the sake of their names so evocative, the old coop house, the house called the ranunculus and house winemakers wait in silence.

Taj Mahal, Agra, India

 

Year in Review #8: August

 

So this is the eighth image in my review of my 2018 photography, and as I explained in the previous posts I am posting images that have not been published before, but still represent some of my favourites for the year.

 

The month of August was dominated by our 3 week trip to India. The highlight of the trip was the 4 days we spent in Agra, primarily focused around shooting the Taj Mahal. On our second day in Agra ( which was a Friday ) the Taj Mahal was closed to the public so we headed to the other side of the Yamuna River to take some photos at sunrise. And on the way back to our hotel ( which was close to the Taj Mahal ) our driver stopped on the side of the road at this spot for yet another view for this magnificent complex.

 

Fujifilm X-E3, ISO200, 230mm ( 50-230mm lens ) 1/640sec, f6.7

Processed in Lightroom

Tras casi dos meses de confinamiento municipal, el martes pasado por fin pudimos movernos con libertad por toda nuestra comunidad autónoma. Ese día coincidió con la circulación sin servicio comercial del Talgo IV que, durante algo menos de dos meses, ofició como lanzadera entre Bilbao y Miranda para enlazar en la localidad burgalesa con destinos no disponibles desde Bilbao. Ese tren incorporó una segunda rama que llevaba días estacionada en Bilbao por lo que la circulación fue como un imán para unos aficionados que llevábamos demasiado tiempo alejados de la vía. Por desgracia, el día fue gélido y gris, algo que unido a un retraso en su salida de más de una hora impidió que obtuviéramos una foto a la altura de una composición que dudo mucho que podamos volver a disfrutar por esta línea. Solo pudimos ver un par de trenes más pero entre la horrible luz que nos tocó en suerte y los omnipresentes grafitis no se puede decir que fuera una de esas jornadas que crean afición. Pero como soy un poco masoquista, al día siguiente lo volví a intentar sin importarme los cuatro grados bajo cero que me esperaban nada más salir del portal. En Katadiano casi nada más llegar pude fotografiar dos mercantes que pasaron con muy poca diferencia de tiempo. Uno estaba muy grafiteado y la locomotora del segundo iba muy sucia pero esa "avalancha" de trenes renovó mi ilusión hasta el punto de pensar que al fin estaba cambiando mi suerte. Vana ilusión, porque el siguiente tren no hizo acto de presencia hasta dos horas y media después. Se trataba de este bobinero de Captrain que al circular en modo diésel (seguramente por algún problema técnico) acumuló casi 45 eternos minutos de retraso sobre su teórica hora de paso por Subijana.

En resumen, tras casi dos meses sin fotos de trenes, todo sigue igual: climatología facinerosa, trenes con grafitis, escasez de circulaciones y más trabas al aficionado en forma de carteles prohibiendo el acceso (¡¡en tres idiomas!!) a lugares tan interesantes como la estación de Izarra.

Pero como soy un hombre positivo, entre las cervezas que me tomé al final de la jornada del martes con mis amigos y lo mucho que me gusta esta foto tomada en Subijana, tengo de nuevo la motivación muy alta hasta el punto de que mañana viernes lo volveré a intentar una vez más.

¡Y las que haga falta!

 

After almost two months of municipal confinement, last Tuesday we were finally able to move freely throughout our autonomous community. That day coincided with the circulation without commercial service of the Talgo IV which, for a little less than two months, served as a shuttle between Bilbao and Miranda to link in the Burgos town with destinations not available from Bilbao. That train incorporated a second branch that had been parked in Bilbao for days, so the circulation was like a magnet for some fans who had been away from the track for too long. Unfortunately, the day was frigid and gray, something that together with a delay in its departure of more than an hour prevented us from obtaining a photo at the height of a composition that I doubt that we can enjoy again along this line. We only got to see a couple more trains, but amid the horrible light that we were so lucky to have and the ubiquitous graffiti, it cannot be said that it was one of those days that create fans. But since I'm a bit of a masochist, the next day I tried it again without caring about the four degrees below zero that awaited me as soon as I left the portal. In Katadiano almost as soon as I arrived I was able to photograph two freights that passed by with very little time difference. One was heavily graffiti and the second's locomotive was very dirty but that "avalanche" of trains renewed my illusion to the point of thinking that my luck was finally changing. Vain illusion, because the next train did not appear until two and a half hours later. It was this Captrain steel freight that when circulating in diesel mode (probably due to some technical problem) accumulated almost 45 eternal minutes behind its theoretical time of passage through Subijana.

In short, after almost two months without photos of trains, everything remains the same: dirty weather, trains with graffiti, lack of traffic and more obstacles to the fan in the form of posters prohibiting access (in three languages ​​!!) to such places interesting as the Izarra station.

But since I am a positive man, between the beers that I had at the end of the day on Tuesday with my friends and how much I like this photo taken in Subijana, I am again very motivated to the point that tomorrow Friday it will I will try one more time.

And the ones that are needed!

  

Pokhara est une ville située sur le lac Phewa, dans le centre du Népal. Elle constitue un point d'entrée dans le grand tour des Annapurnas, un célèbre trek de l'Himalaya. C'est donc une ville assez "touristique". Des boutiques avec les plus grandes marques d'équipement de treks sont omniprésentes au bord du lac. Evitant ce secteur, nous avons coupé tout droit par les quartiers populaires. Un vrai bonheur !

 

Lien vers mon site de photographies de voyage "Tranches de vi(ll)es "

5e7609e2aff8a.site123.me/

Dans le XIIIe arrondissement de Paris vous pourrez profiter d’une galerie à ciel ouvert de street art lancée par l’association SPOT 13, avec ses fresques géantes ou ses graffs engagés sur des terrains vagues et des espaces en friches à deux pas du périphérique, là où tout un quartier n’en finit pas de sortir de terre.

Surréalisme : homme en cage et corbeaux en haut d’un escalier qui mène au boulevard du général d’Armée Jean Simon, compagnon de la Libération.

Parvati, artiste franco-indienne, est née en Guyane Française en 1986.

Ses personnages hybrides, mi-humains mi-oiseaux, ouvrent une porte vers un onirisme poétique qui interroge la relation entre le bizarre et le beau autant que notre propre animalité. A l’origine métaphore des migrants, ces êtres sont devenus le peuple imaginaire de Parvati. L’omniprésence végétale également typique de son travail est un écho de la forêt qui l'a vue naître, l’Amazonie.

En constante recherche technique, Parvati s'inspire des grands maîtres de la Renaissance : elle travaille le clair-obscur et le sfumato au pinceau, tout en maniant la bombe et le pochoir dans ses fonds pour y faire apparaître des motifs inspirés de l'artisanat traditionnel d'Inde du Sud.

Dans la rue, c'est généralement par le collage qu'elle joue avec l'espace public, prenant soin de ne coller que des peintures originales. Ses oiseaux anthropomorphes, souvent à échelle humaine, interpellent le passant, l'interroge sur sa réalité quotidienne.

 

A view down Tianjin's Hai River at dusk, complete with omnipresent construction cranes in the Hebei/Hedong area.

CFL 2009, Mensdorf (ligne Wasserbillig - Luxembourg), 08 Mars 2015.

 

La 2009 sur un RB Wasserbillig - Luxembourg passe Mensdorf en ce Dimanche matin. Jadis omniprésentes sur cette ligne, les 2000 des CFL ont de nos jours quasiment déserté la ligne Wasserbillig - Luxembourg, mis à part en heures de pointe ou les week-ends.

Un bâtiment à énergie positive :

– Orientation sud-est/nord-ouest qui favorise l’éclairage naturel

– Escalier-rue qui joue un rôle de ventilation naturelle

– Panneaux solaires qui habillent le toit terrasse et fournissent l’énergie

– Système de pompes à chaleur sur eau de mer qui permet de couvrir les besoins de chauffage en totalité par des énergies renouvelables

– Enveloppe extérieure en résille perforée qui permet de conserver les apports solaires hivernaux, le confort hygrothermique estival et l’apport d’éclairage naturel optimal durant l’année.

 

Un bâtiment « développement durable » grâce à :

– L’innovation environnementale (empreinte environnementale la plus basse possible, réduction des consommations énergétiques, autonomie énergétique, optimisation de la ressource en eau locale, optimisation de la distribution de l’électricité entre l’offre et la demande.

– La performance dès la conception (bâtiment compact donc peu de surfaces déperditives, traques aux ponts thermiques, éclairage naturel…)

– L’originalité de l’école repose sur son projet pédagogique appelé “Ship-in-School” qui induit une certaine conception des locaux…

– L’esprit de ce projet consiste à faire du bâtiment lui-même un outil pédagogique en lui donnant une organisation interne comparable à celle d’un navire en reprenant les grandes caractéristiques en termes de gabarits, de volumes, de matériaux …

– Les espaces intérieurs sont eux aussi traités dans l’esprit de ceux d’un navire où la technique est omniprésente : chauffage, ventilation, réseaux d’eau ou distributions électriques semblables à celles présentes sur les navires.

 

A positive energy building:

– South-east/north-west orientation that promotes natural lighting

– Staircase-street which plays a role of natural ventilation

– Solar panels that dress the roof terrace and provide energy

– System of heat pumps on sea water which makes it possible to cover the heating needs entirely by renewable energies

– Outer envelope in perforated mesh which allows to preserve the winter solar contributions, the summer hygrothermal comfort and the optimal contribution of natural lighting during the year.

 

A “sustainable development” building thanks to:

– Environmental innovation (lowest possible environmental footprint, reduction of energy consumption, energy autonomy, optimization of local water resources, optimization of the distribution of electricity between supply and demand.

– Performance from the design stage (compact building therefore few wasting surfaces, tracking of thermal bridges, natural lighting, etc.)

– The originality of the school is based on its educational project called “Ship-in-School” which induces a certain design of the premises…

– The spirit of this project is to make the building itself an educational tool by giving it an internal organization comparable to that of a ship by taking up the main characteristics in terms of size, volume, materials…

– The interior spaces are also treated in the spirit of those of a ship where technology is omnipresent: heating, ventilation, water networks or electrical distributions similar to those present on ships.

Escapando del humo y el calor, nos fuimos un rato al río Azul, hacia el norte.

El humo fue omnipresente, pero sólo hasta la tarde... Luego cambió la dirección del viento y volvimos a ver el sol.

Andrés disfrutó mucho del río. Se la pasó caminando -y cayéndose- entre las piedras toda la tarde. Y trepándose a mí...

¡Gracias, papá, por la foto!

The last days have brought storm and much rain. So the canyon creek has much water to get down. This place is just underneath the last shooting (Rocks). The canyon is narrow, green is omnipresent, water is loud, the spot is charming. Far below there once was a mill fed by 8 springs and destructed by a debris avalanche in 1964. Currently this is a natural preserve.

Superbement juché sur une colline piémontaise, ce village s’étire le long de la route des vins d’Alsace. Croisé par l’ancienne route romaine, ce petit village pittoresque arbore de multiples pergolas de vignes tissées à travers la voie principale. Merveilleusement fleuri une grande partie de l’année, il est ceint d’un vignoble omniprésent aux crus prestigieux. Itterswiller, ravissante cité viticole et gastronomique, gîte d’étape, à savourer, à boire et à voir... Sans Modération !

Omnipresent tower blocks of London's Canary Wharf. By Mark Higham. Prints and canvases are available on my website at theartshot.com You can find more of my photos on instagram at @theartshot360. www.instagram.com/theartshot360/

Lille/ Roubaix - The sailed walls are omnipresent in the North

After a hiatus of nearly four years a revenue passenger train returned to the end of the line in downtown Newport Rhode Island. The Mass Bay RRE's Narragansett Bay Special made a round trip over the entire thirteen mile length of the Newport Secondary.

 

The train consisted of two GE centercabs, Newport and Narragansett Bay Railroad numbers 14 and 66.

 

The former still dressed in yellow paint is a GE 80 tonner built in July 1941 as the 5th of the model off the production line. Originally numbered GE 14 it worked at the company's Schenectady plant until being sold and rebuilt in the late 1980s to serve at Northeast Utilities' West Springfield power plant. However, after coal and oil fired units 1 and 2 were shut down in 1999 the locomotive had no purpose. It sat on site there for more than two decades until the NNBR purchased it in 2023 and shipped it to Fall River on a flat car and then had it trucked over to the island and set back on the rails and put back into service.

 

The latter is freshly repainted into the very attractive paint scheme featuring colors that pay homage to the state of Rhode Island and the omnipresent sea. It wears a newly applied logo for the Grand Bellevue Dinner Train for which it is the regular power. A GE 65-tonner, it was built in 1943 and was most recently numbered USN 65-00566 where it served with a sister unit at the Portsmouth Navy Yard until being replaced with a trackmobile several years ago. In 2024 she and sister unit USN 65-00308, two years her junior, were purchased by Eric Moffett and turcked to Rhode Island with the the 65-00308 being assigned to the Seaview Railroad freight operations at Quonset Business Park.

 

Trailing the two GEs is the five car consist of the dinner train consisting of:

 

Generator Car former USAX 89657 built by St. Louis Car Company in 1952 for the US Army as a kitchen car, then later served Amtrak as a baggage car.

 

Theater Dining Car Atlantic Rose built by the Budd Co. in 1946 as a 46 seat coach for the Atlantic Coast Line Railroad as car number 220. It served on the famed Champion and passed to SCL and then ultimately Amtrak before being sold in the 1980s.

 

Kitchen Car Bellevue Clipper built by the Budd Co. in 1948 as a 52 seat coach for the Seaboard Air Line Railroad where it served on the famed Silver Meteor. It passed to SCL and then ultimately Amtrak before being sold and gutted and rebuilt into a modern full service kitchen in 1987.

 

Dining Car Aquidneck Spruce was also built by the Budd Company in 1946 as a 54 seat coach for the Pennsylvania Railroad as their number 4051 and originally assigned to pool service on the Champion to Miami in conjunction with the RF&P, ACL, and FEC railroads.

 

Diner Lounge BC-30 is a Budd RDC-3 built in 1956 for the Pacific Great East Railway. The self propelled car was one of seven the railroad bought which passed to BC Rail and remained in daily scheduled passenger service until discontinued by the province of British Columbia in 2002. It and sister BC-15 spent a couple years on the short lived Wilton Scenic Railroad in New Hampshire before coming to the island in 2007. The car is in the process of being remodeled into a dining car and bar with the headlights and horn operational and used as a shoving platform from the cab.

 

The train is seen here shoving down right to end of track at MP 0 beside the tiny depot south of Elm Street alongside America's Cup Avenue. Historically this would have been about MP 30 as measured from Myricks and the junction with the New Bedford mainline.

 

The little depot is not the original New Haven station as the latter is long gone and this tiny structure, while historic and probably a century old in its own right is a relocated former cemetery office. It is a somewhat reasonable facsimile of what was once located nearby and to see historic photos of the railroad in Newport check out Edward Ozog's fabulous site:

 

sites.google.com/site/rhodeislandrailroads/home/east-prov...

 

As for the line itself, this scenic route opened in 1864 and over the years passed from the Old Colony Railroad to the New Haven and Penn Central. Regular passenger service ended in 1938 and freight traffic dwindled. The state bought the lower half of the line to preserve it in 1976 and CR operated this northern section until around 1982 when the P&W assumed the freight rights on the island. Although a few PW moves on the island are known to have taken place they ultimately chose to contract with Conrail to serve their customers in Portsmouth (since CR was still regularly serving Fall River only a few miles away) and an occasional blue CR unit made its way part way down the islandvuntil as late as 1988.

 

Over the years a succession of tourist and dinner train operators have continued to use the now isolated trackage as there is no longer a connection with the outside rail network since the drawbridge over Tiverton narrows was damaged by a barge collision in the 1988 (ending freight service) and then subsequently removed a couple decades later.

 

If you're interested in learning more or having dinner on the rails check out their website here: www.thegrandbell.com/

 

Newport, Rhode Island

Saturday May 17, 2025

He's always asking for something.

 

[#65 on Explore. Thank you.]

Mural dedicado al poeta Miguel Hernández, nacido en Orihuela en 1910.

La pintura incluye elementos alusivos al poeta y así como al municipio, "un homenaje en el 109 aniversario de su nacimiento, del que solo se le permitió vivir 32 años" ...

Su rostro icónico y, por supuesto, las cebollas omnipresentes, son una adición curiosa a la escena del arte callejero local.

 

Mural dedicated to the poet Miguel Hernández, born in Orihuela in 1910.

The painting includes elements allusive to the poet and as well as to the municipality, "a tribute on the 109th anniversary of his birth, from which he was only allowed to live for 32 years" ...

His iconic face, and of course the ubiquitous onions, are a curious addition to the local street art scene.

 

Rojales (Vega Baja del Segura/ Alicante/ Comunitat Valènciana/ Spain)

 

en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Miguel_Hern%C3%A1ndez

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