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Front side of these pieces I got from the Assassin Droids Battle Pack. Is this difference normal in these types of pieces?
Selfie of me wearing my new Portsmouth Football Club home shirt for season 2023 / 2024. I have only seen 2 and a half games over the past few seasons and not at all this season yet. I have a couple of health problems that just make going to football difficult. Anyway I still love the club. Football / Soccer is the greatest team sport in the world and in the now distant past Portsmouth were a very good club and have been champions of England twice but sadly not in my life time. As you can see my beard needs a trim 😎
Bad weather is here again and the car has been sitting since just before Christmas. So I figured it to be as good a time as any to fix something that was really irking the crap out of me…the sun visors.
All of the 79-85 Eldorado’s with light up mirrors (which most had) unfortunately have a problem with visorus saginitus. The visor is held up by a small winged plastic bushing-it wraps around the chrome visor arm, and locks into the plastic visor body with the winged part. This little plastic thing gets brittle over time and starts to crack, losing its grip on the stationary rod. This starts as an issue where they droop a little bit when the car has been sitting in the sun on a summers day but eventually gets bad enough that it happens at all temperatures and will just flop down with bumps in the road.
To my knowledge there’s no replacements for this winged bushing and even if there were I don’t know how you would go about replacing it with the way it’s installed on the visor arm. GM evidently saw the problem as the arm and bushing were revised in 1984 to be bigger but evidently to no avail-the passenger visor on my car sagged from the time I had bought the car and I had held it in place with a nail wedged into the metal trim surrounding the window that had to be removed when you wanted to use it…this didn’t compute with the fairer sex, so it’s safe to say eventually I’m going to find all of those finishing nails that have gone missing over the past couple of years the hard way…
My driver’s side visor was free of this problem but I just didn’t use it as I was afraid it would start doing the same thing. So I set to work finding a real fix
These popped up for sale on ebay, red visors from an ’87 DeVille. They looked like a winner, same general shape, same color and in good condition. After a couple of messages to get an idea on size, I ordered them. However, when they arrived, they were neither the bright red shown in the pictures, nor in as good of repair. They definitely needed to be reupholstered to be used. I gave them a dry run before wasting any more money, and they had a couple of other issues. The first was a different electrical connector which was no biggie. The second was much bigger, that they could only be used to block sun going forward. Trying to move it to the side caused them to either drop or raise at a 45 degree angle.
I figured this was caused by the design of the mount which is heavily angled. So there wasn’t much I could do about it. Until my ebay suggestions came up with visors from a Buick Reatta for sale-the same general style as the DeVille, but with a flat type of mount similar to the OEM Eldorado!
Now the guy wanted over 100 dollars for these and after my blunder with the DeVille visors I wasn’t about to sink that type of change in a maybe. So I headed over to the Reatta AACA message board to see if anyone had a dogged set of visors with good mounts that they wanted to sell, and the first post in the for sale section happened to be by a fella who was parting out a complete Reatta! Score!
I emailed the guy and he explained that the car was in a junkyard local to his house. A real gentleman, he was able to get the visor arms for free and didn’t even charge me the ride up from Florida. Thanks Mike! The car in question had a burgundy interior so the arms would need to be sprayed dark carmine to work for me. After cleaning and priming, SEM aerosol made quick work of that.
Unfortunately when they were removed from the Reatta, this condom thing that wraps around a metal bushing shredded, but I was able to basically replicate it with heat shrink tubing
The arms are easily removed from the visors when uninstalled from the car. Simply rotate the arm into the mirror side of the visor (as if you were pushing the visor back up into the roof) until it clicks and then yank it out. Install it into the new visor in the same position. I did some tests for proof of concept and when it seemed like I was on the right track, I got to work. Or at least to spending money. I ordered carmine foam-backed headliner material (Sunbrite 1872 for those interested, it was a great match) and headliner adhesive (which I ended up not needing for this job)
The visors themselves are like a clamshell and probably harder to crack open than a turnip. After enough brute force, a hammer, and a screwdriver, I was able to get them open (see the color difference as compared to the ebay picture above)
The material around the visor ended up not being glued to the face of it, only tucked tight and hot glued from the factory. I decided to do the same thing (So I have to write off the spray adhesive until I do a new headliner). I carefully removed the old fabric and made a template out of the new material
(should anyone do this in the future, it’s much more simple and less risky to only cut the general shape of the template out, you can cut the hole for the mirror and sun shade later)
The visors themselves also needed some help. The “ears” at the ends were super fatigued and loose, so I mixed up some resin and fiberglass to shore them up.
Once the visor bodies were sound, I had to come up with a way of re-joining the clamshell. I have no idea how GM did this in the first place but super glue doesn’t work. After a lot of searching I found out that these are likely made of Polyethylene. I bought this 3M DP8005 adhesive which claimed to bond it and tested it on a junk visor-seemed to do the trick. You need a special mixing tip in addition to this and I also had to get a gun that it fits into.
With that solved, I started hot gluing the material onto the visors. I had never done anything with headliner material before aside from stapling them up when they started sagging and I was really surprised with how compliant it was. In that, it basically looked factory with no runs or wrinkles despite not having a clue what I was doing.
Then, I bonded the two halves back together. Each one had to sit like this for a day, and early signs seem like it worked. Hopefully the adhesive will hold, time and temperature will tell.
Here’s a comparison of the original visors with the DeVille replacements. Mirrors swapped without issue. I also had to swap the power connector, meaning I had to cut the crimped on connector at the mirror end from the old visors and install in the new ones. Delphi 12020347 is the connector part, there’s no room inside the assembly for a butt connector (and I hate using them unless I have to)
And here they are installed!
The only complication on the install is that the plastic visor arms bolt in a slightly smaller bolt pattern than the originals. You can take any 2 of the 3 holes but not all 3 at once. Fortunately there’s plenty of meat to drill into to make another hole.
I’m sure a lot of people are reading this right now and saying I should have just stuck with the nail but in reality it wasn’t that bad. It might seem like a mess but everything above is a “worse possible scenario” in that I got fleeced on the visors I bought and had to change color, structurally repair them, rehab the Reatta visor arms, then bond them back together. If you’re fortunate enough to have a 79-85 E body with an interior color the same as an 85-88 Deville, and can get the visors from it, the only thing you need do is get a set of Reatta visor arms and swap them out (and obviously your electrical connector from your 79-85). They’re really close in size as far as fit, and look factory with the exception of the sunshade. You could delete that when reupholstering, but I always liked them.
It seems like GM changed all their lighted visor designs to basically the same thing in the late 80’s downsized cars. So there might very well be more vehicles than just Reattas that have the flat plastic visor arm. As far as longevity, I’ll definitely keep everyone posted but I will say that I’ve never really seen any of the “newer” Cadillacs or Buicks experiencing visor problems. The whole metal bushing with condom setup also feels much more sturdy then the OEM 79-85 stuff.
Oh, and on the bright side, I’ll only have to wear these puppies at night now.
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Graffiti (plural; singular graffiti or graffito, the latter rarely used except in archeology) is art that is written, painted or drawn on a wall or other surface, usually without permission and within public view. Graffiti ranges from simple written words to elaborate wall paintings, and has existed since ancient times, with examples dating back to ancient Egypt, ancient Greece, and the Roman Empire (see also mural).
Graffiti is a controversial subject. In most countries, marking or painting property without permission is considered by property owners and civic authorities as defacement and vandalism, which is a punishable crime, citing the use of graffiti by street gangs to mark territory or to serve as an indicator of gang-related activities. Graffiti has become visualized as a growing urban "problem" for many cities in industrialized nations, spreading from the New York City subway system and Philadelphia in the early 1970s to the rest of the United States and Europe and other world regions
"Graffiti" (usually both singular and plural) and the rare singular form "graffito" are from the Italian word graffiato ("scratched"). The term "graffiti" is used in art history for works of art produced by scratching a design into a surface. A related term is "sgraffito", which involves scratching through one layer of pigment to reveal another beneath it. This technique was primarily used by potters who would glaze their wares and then scratch a design into them. In ancient times graffiti were carved on walls with a sharp object, although sometimes chalk or coal were used. The word originates from Greek γράφειν—graphein—meaning "to write".
The term graffiti originally referred to the inscriptions, figure drawings, and such, found on the walls of ancient sepulchres or ruins, as in the Catacombs of Rome or at Pompeii. Historically, these writings were not considered vanadlism, which today is considered part of the definition of graffiti.
The only known source of the Safaitic language, an ancient form of Arabic, is from graffiti: inscriptions scratched on to the surface of rocks and boulders in the predominantly basalt desert of southern Syria, eastern Jordan and northern Saudi Arabia. Safaitic dates from the first century BC to the fourth century AD.
Some of the oldest cave paintings in the world are 40,000 year old ones found in Australia. The oldest written graffiti was found in ancient Rome around 2500 years ago. Most graffiti from the time was boasts about sexual experiences Graffiti in Ancient Rome was a form of communication, and was not considered vandalism.
Ancient tourists visiting the 5th-century citadel at Sigiriya in Sri Lanka write their names and commentary over the "mirror wall", adding up to over 1800 individual graffiti produced there between the 6th and 18th centuries. Most of the graffiti refer to the frescoes of semi-nude females found there. One reads:
Wet with cool dew drops
fragrant with perfume from the flowers
came the gentle breeze
jasmine and water lily
dance in the spring sunshine
side-long glances
of the golden-hued ladies
stab into my thoughts
heaven itself cannot take my mind
as it has been captivated by one lass
among the five hundred I have seen here.
Among the ancient political graffiti examples were Arab satirist poems. Yazid al-Himyari, an Umayyad Arab and Persian poet, was most known for writing his political poetry on the walls between Sajistan and Basra, manifesting a strong hatred towards the Umayyad regime and its walis, and people used to read and circulate them very widely.
Graffiti, known as Tacherons, were frequently scratched on Romanesque Scandinavian church walls. When Renaissance artists such as Pinturicchio, Raphael, Michelangelo, Ghirlandaio, or Filippino Lippi descended into the ruins of Nero's Domus Aurea, they carved or painted their names and returned to initiate the grottesche style of decoration.
There are also examples of graffiti occurring in American history, such as Independence Rock, a national landmark along the Oregon Trail.
Later, French soldiers carved their names on monuments during the Napoleonic campaign of Egypt in the 1790s. Lord Byron's survives on one of the columns of the Temple of Poseidon at Cape Sounion in Attica, Greece.
The oldest known example of graffiti "monikers" found on traincars created by hobos and railworkers since the late 1800s. The Bozo Texino monikers were documented by filmmaker Bill Daniel in his 2005 film, Who is Bozo Texino?.
In World War II, an inscription on a wall at the fortress of Verdun was seen as an illustration of the US response twice in a generation to the wrongs of the Old World:
During World War II and for decades after, the phrase "Kilroy was here" with an accompanying illustration was widespread throughout the world, due to its use by American troops and ultimately filtering into American popular culture. Shortly after the death of Charlie Parker (nicknamed "Yardbird" or "Bird"), graffiti began appearing around New York with the words "Bird Lives".
Modern graffiti art has its origins with young people in 1960s and 70s in New York City and Philadelphia. Tags were the first form of stylised contemporary graffiti. Eventually, throw-ups and pieces evolved with the desire to create larger art. Writers used spray paint and other kind of materials to leave tags or to create images on the sides subway trains. and eventually moved into the city after the NYC metro began to buy new trains and paint over graffiti.
While the art had many advocates and appreciators—including the cultural critic Norman Mailer—others, including New York City mayor Ed Koch, considered it to be defacement of public property, and saw it as a form of public blight. The ‘taggers’ called what they did ‘writing’—though an important 1974 essay by Mailer referred to it using the term ‘graffiti.’
Contemporary graffiti style has been heavily influenced by hip hop culture and the myriad international styles derived from Philadelphia and New York City Subway graffiti; however, there are many other traditions of notable graffiti in the twentieth century. Graffiti have long appeared on building walls, in latrines, railroad boxcars, subways, and bridges.
An early graffito outside of New York or Philadelphia was the inscription in London reading "Clapton is God" in reference to the guitarist Eric Clapton. Creating the cult of the guitar hero, the phrase was spray-painted by an admirer on a wall in an Islington, north London in the autumn of 1967. The graffito was captured in a photograph, in which a dog is urinating on the wall.
Films like Style Wars in the 80s depicting famous writers such as Skeme, Dondi, MinOne, and ZEPHYR reinforced graffiti's role within New York's emerging hip-hop culture. Although many officers of the New York City Police Department found this film to be controversial, Style Wars is still recognized as the most prolific film representation of what was going on within the young hip hop culture of the early 1980s. Fab 5 Freddy and Futura 2000 took hip hop graffiti to Paris and London as part of the New York City Rap Tour in 1983
Commercialization and entrance into mainstream pop culture
Main article: Commercial graffiti
With the popularity and legitimization of graffiti has come a level of commercialization. In 2001, computer giant IBM launched an advertising campaign in Chicago and San Francisco which involved people spray painting on sidewalks a peace symbol, a heart, and a penguin (Linux mascot), to represent "Peace, Love, and Linux." IBM paid Chicago and San Francisco collectively US$120,000 for punitive damages and clean-up costs.
In 2005, a similar ad campaign was launched by Sony and executed by its advertising agency in New York, Chicago, Atlanta, Philadelphia, Los Angeles, and Miami, to market its handheld PSP gaming system. In this campaign, taking notice of the legal problems of the IBM campaign, Sony paid building owners for the rights to paint on their buildings "a collection of dizzy-eyed urban kids playing with the PSP as if it were a skateboard, a paddle, or a rocking horse".
Tristan Manco wrote that Brazil "boasts a unique and particularly rich, graffiti scene ... [earning] it an international reputation as the place to go for artistic inspiration". Graffiti "flourishes in every conceivable space in Brazil's cities". Artistic parallels "are often drawn between the energy of São Paulo today and 1970s New York". The "sprawling metropolis", of São Paulo has "become the new shrine to graffiti"; Manco alludes to "poverty and unemployment ... [and] the epic struggles and conditions of the country's marginalised peoples", and to "Brazil's chronic poverty", as the main engines that "have fuelled a vibrant graffiti culture". In world terms, Brazil has "one of the most uneven distributions of income. Laws and taxes change frequently". Such factors, Manco argues, contribute to a very fluid society, riven with those economic divisions and social tensions that underpin and feed the "folkloric vandalism and an urban sport for the disenfranchised", that is South American graffiti art.
Prominent Brazilian writers include Os Gêmeos, Boleta, Nunca, Nina, Speto, Tikka, and T.Freak. Their artistic success and involvement in commercial design ventures has highlighted divisions within the Brazilian graffiti community between adherents of the cruder transgressive form of pichação and the more conventionally artistic values of the practitioners of grafite.
Graffiti in the Middle East has emerged slowly, with taggers operating in Egypt, Lebanon, the Gulf countries like Bahrain or the United Arab Emirates, Israel, and in Iran. The major Iranian newspaper Hamshahri has published two articles on illegal writers in the city with photographic coverage of Iranian artist A1one's works on Tehran walls. Tokyo-based design magazine, PingMag, has interviewed A1one and featured photographs of his work. The Israeli West Bank barrier has become a site for graffiti, reminiscent in this sense of the Berlin Wall. Many writers in Israel come from other places around the globe, such as JUIF from Los Angeles and DEVIONE from London. The religious reference "נ נח נחמ נחמן מאומן" ("Na Nach Nachma Nachman Meuman") is commonly seen in graffiti around Israel.
Graffiti has played an important role within the street art scene in the Middle East and North Africa (MENA), especially following the events of the Arab Spring of 2011 or the Sudanese Revolution of 2018/19. Graffiti is a tool of expression in the context of conflict in the region, allowing people to raise their voices politically and socially. Famous street artist Banksy has had an important effect in the street art scene in the MENA area, especially in Palestine where some of his works are located in the West Bank barrier and Bethlehem.
There are also a large number of graffiti influences in Southeast Asian countries that mostly come from modern Western culture, such as Malaysia, where graffiti have long been a common sight in Malaysia's capital city, Kuala Lumpur. Since 2010, the country has begun hosting a street festival to encourage all generations and people from all walks of life to enjoy and encourage Malaysian street culture.
The modern-day graffitists can be found with an arsenal of various materials that allow for a successful production of a piece. This includes such techniques as scribing. However, spray paint in aerosol cans is the number one medium for graffiti. From this commodity comes different styles, technique, and abilities to form master works of graffiti. Spray paint can be found at hardware and art stores and comes in virtually every color.
Stencil graffiti is created by cutting out shapes and designs in a stiff material (such as cardboard or subject folders) to form an overall design or image. The stencil is then placed on the "canvas" gently and with quick, easy strokes of the aerosol can, the image begins to appear on the intended surface.
Some of the first examples were created in 1981 by artists Blek le Rat in Paris, in 1982 by Jef Aerosol in Tours (France); by 1985 stencils had appeared in other cities including New York City, Sydney, and Melbourne, where they were documented by American photographer Charles Gatewood and Australian photographer Rennie Ellis
Tagging is the practice of someone spray-painting "their name, initial or logo onto a public surface" in a handstyle unique to the writer. Tags were the first form of modern graffiti.
Modern graffiti art often incorporates additional arts and technologies. For example, Graffiti Research Lab has encouraged the use of projected images and magnetic light-emitting diodes (throwies) as new media for graffitists. yarnbombing is another recent form of graffiti. Yarnbombers occasionally target previous graffiti for modification, which had been avoided among the majority of graffitists.
Theories on the use of graffiti by avant-garde artists have a history dating back at least to the Asger Jorn, who in 1962 painting declared in a graffiti-like gesture "the avant-garde won't give up"
Many contemporary analysts and even art critics have begun to see artistic value in some graffiti and to recognize it as a form of public art. According to many art researchers, particularly in the Netherlands and in Los Angeles, that type of public art is, in fact an effective tool of social emancipation or, in the achievement of a political goal
In times of conflict, such murals have offered a means of communication and self-expression for members of these socially, ethnically, or racially divided communities, and have proven themselves as effective tools in establishing dialog and thus, of addressing cleavages in the long run. The Berlin Wall was also extensively covered by graffiti reflecting social pressures relating to the oppressive Soviet rule over the GDR.
Many artists involved with graffiti are also concerned with the similar activity of stenciling. Essentially, this entails stenciling a print of one or more colors using spray-paint. Recognized while exhibiting and publishing several of her coloured stencils and paintings portraying the Sri Lankan Civil War and urban Britain in the early 2000s, graffitists Mathangi Arulpragasam, aka M.I.A., has also become known for integrating her imagery of political violence into her music videos for singles "Galang" and "Bucky Done Gun", and her cover art. Stickers of her artwork also often appear around places such as London in Brick Lane, stuck to lamp posts and street signs, she having become a muse for other graffitists and painters worldwide in cities including Seville.
Graffitist believes that art should be on display for everyone in the public eye or in plain sight, not hidden away in a museum or a gallery. Art should color the streets, not the inside of some building. Graffiti is a form of art that cannot be owned or bought. It does not last forever, it is temporary, yet one of a kind. It is a form of self promotion for the artist that can be displayed anywhere form sidewalks, roofs, subways, building wall, etc. Art to them is for everyone and should be showed to everyone for free.
Graffiti is a way of communicating and a way of expressing what one feels in the moment. It is both art and a functional thing that can warn people of something or inform people of something. However, graffiti is to some people a form of art, but to some a form of vandalism. And many graffitists choose to protect their identities and remain anonymous or to hinder prosecution.
With the commercialization of graffiti (and hip hop in general), in most cases, even with legally painted "graffiti" art, graffitists tend to choose anonymity. This may be attributed to various reasons or a combination of reasons. Graffiti still remains the one of four hip hop elements that is not considered "performance art" despite the image of the "singing and dancing star" that sells hip hop culture to the mainstream. Being a graphic form of art, it might also be said that many graffitists still fall in the category of the introverted archetypal artist.
Banksy is one of the world's most notorious and popular street artists who continues to remain faceless in today's society. He is known for his political, anti-war stencil art mainly in Bristol, England, but his work may be seen anywhere from Los Angeles to Palestine. In the UK, Banksy is the most recognizable icon for this cultural artistic movement and keeps his identity a secret to avoid arrest. Much of Banksy's artwork may be seen around the streets of London and surrounding suburbs, although he has painted pictures throughout the world, including the Middle East, where he has painted on Israel's controversial West Bank barrier with satirical images of life on the other side. One depicted a hole in the wall with an idyllic beach, while another shows a mountain landscape on the other side. A number of exhibitions also have taken place since 2000, and recent works of art have fetched vast sums of money. Banksy's art is a prime example of the classic controversy: vandalism vs. art. Art supporters endorse his work distributed in urban areas as pieces of art and some councils, such as Bristol and Islington, have officially protected them, while officials of other areas have deemed his work to be vandalism and have removed it.
Pixnit is another artist who chooses to keep her identity from the general public. Her work focuses on beauty and design aspects of graffiti as opposed to Banksy's anti-government shock value. Her paintings are often of flower designs above shops and stores in her local urban area of Cambridge, Massachusetts. Some store owners endorse her work and encourage others to do similar work as well. "One of the pieces was left up above Steve's Kitchen, because it looks pretty awesome"- Erin Scott, the manager of New England Comics in Allston, Massachusetts.
Graffiti artists may become offended if photographs of their art are published in a commercial context without their permission. In March 2020, the Finnish graffiti artist Psyke expressed his displeasure at the newspaper Ilta-Sanomat publishing a photograph of a Peugeot 208 in an article about new cars, with his graffiti prominently shown on the background. The artist claims he does not want his art being used in commercial context, not even if he were to receive compensation.
Territorial graffiti marks urban neighborhoods with tags and logos to differentiate certain groups from others. These images are meant to show outsiders a stern look at whose turf is whose. The subject matter of gang-related graffiti consists of cryptic symbols and initials strictly fashioned with unique calligraphies. Gang members use graffiti to designate membership throughout the gang, to differentiate rivals and associates and, most commonly, to mark borders which are both territorial and ideological.
Graffiti has been used as a means of advertising both legally and illegally. Bronx-based TATS CRU has made a name for themselves doing legal advertising campaigns for companies such as Coca-Cola, McDonald's, Toyota, and MTV. In the UK, Covent Garden's Boxfresh used stencil images of a Zapatista revolutionary in the hopes that cross referencing would promote their store.
Smirnoff hired artists to use reverse graffiti (the use of high pressure hoses to clean dirty surfaces to leave a clean image in the surrounding dirt) to increase awareness of their product.
Graffiti often has a reputation as part of a subculture that rebels against authority, although the considerations of the practitioners often diverge and can relate to a wide range of attitudes. It can express a political practice and can form just one tool in an array of resistance techniques. One early example includes the anarcho-punk band Crass, who conducted a campaign of stenciling anti-war, anarchist, feminist, and anti-consumerist messages throughout the London Underground system during the late 1970s and early 1980s. In Amsterdam graffiti was a major part of the punk scene. The city was covered with names such as "De Zoot", "Vendex", and "Dr Rat". To document the graffiti a punk magazine was started that was called Gallery Anus. So when hip hop came to Europe in the early 1980s there was already a vibrant graffiti culture.
The student protests and general strike of May 1968 saw Paris bedecked in revolutionary, anarchistic, and situationist slogans such as L'ennui est contre-révolutionnaire ("Boredom is counterrevolutionary") and Lisez moins, vivez plus ("Read less, live more"). While not exhaustive, the graffiti gave a sense of the 'millenarian' and rebellious spirit, tempered with a good deal of verbal wit, of the strikers.
I think graffiti writing is a way of defining what our generation is like. Excuse the French, we're not a bunch of p---- artists. Traditionally artists have been considered soft and mellow people, a little bit kooky. Maybe we're a little bit more like pirates that way. We defend our territory, whatever space we steal to paint on, we defend it fiercely.
The developments of graffiti art which took place in art galleries and colleges as well as "on the street" or "underground", contributed to the resurfacing in the 1990s of a far more overtly politicized art form in the subvertising, culture jamming, or tactical media movements. These movements or styles tend to classify the artists by their relationship to their social and economic contexts, since, in most countries, graffiti art remains illegal in many forms except when using non-permanent paint. Since the 1990s with the rise of Street Art, a growing number of artists are switching to non-permanent paints and non-traditional forms of painting.
Contemporary practitioners, accordingly, have varied and often conflicting practices. Some individuals, such as Alexander Brener, have used the medium to politicize other art forms, and have used the prison sentences enforced on them as a means of further protest. The practices of anonymous groups and individuals also vary widely, and practitioners by no means always agree with each other's practices. For example, the anti-capitalist art group the Space Hijackers did a piece in 2004 about the contradiction between the capitalistic elements of Banksy and his use of political imagery.
Berlin human rights activist Irmela Mensah-Schramm has received global media attention and numerous awards for her 35-year campaign of effacing neo-Nazi and other right-wing extremist graffiti throughout Germany, often by altering hate speech in humorous ways.
In Serbian capital, Belgrade, the graffiti depicting a uniformed former general of Serb army and war criminal, convicted at ICTY for war crimes and crimes against humanity, including genocide and ethnic cleansing in Bosnian War, Ratko Mladić, appeared in a military salute alongside the words "General, thank to your mother". Aleks Eror, Berlin-based journalist, explains how "veneration of historical and wartime figures" through street art is not a new phenomenon in the region of former Yugoslavia, and that "in most cases is firmly focused on the future, rather than retelling the past". Eror is not only analyst pointing to danger of such an expressions for the region's future. In a long expose on the subject of Bosnian genocide denial, at Balkan Diskurs magazine and multimedia platform website, Kristina Gadže and Taylor Whitsell referred to these experiences as a young generations' "cultural heritage", in which young are being exposed to celebration and affirmation of war-criminals as part of their "formal education" and "inheritance".
There are numerous examples of genocide denial through celebration and affirmation of war criminals throughout the region of Western Balkans inhabited by Serbs using this form of artistic expression. Several more of these graffiti are found in Serbian capital, and many more across Serbia and Bosnian and Herzegovinian administrative entity, Republika Srpska, which is the ethnic Serbian majority enclave. Critics point that Serbia as a state, is willing to defend the mural of convicted war criminal, and have no intention to react on cases of genocide denial, noting that Interior Minister of Serbia, Aleksandar Vulin decision to ban any gathering with an intent to remove the mural, with the deployment of riot police, sends the message of "tacit endorsement". Consequently, on 9 November 2021, Serbian heavy police in riot gear, with graffiti creators and their supporters, blocked the access to the mural to prevent human rights groups and other activists to paint over it and mark the International Day Against Fascism and Antisemitism in that way, and even arrested two civic activist for throwing eggs at the graffiti.
Graffiti may also be used as an offensive expression. This form of graffiti may be difficult to identify, as it is mostly removed by the local authority (as councils which have adopted strategies of criminalization also strive to remove graffiti quickly). Therefore, existing racist graffiti is mostly more subtle and at first sight, not easily recognized as "racist". It can then be understood only if one knows the relevant "local code" (social, historical, political, temporal, and spatial), which is seen as heteroglot and thus a 'unique set of conditions' in a cultural context.
A spatial code for example, could be that there is a certain youth group in an area that is engaging heavily in racist activities. So, for residents (knowing the local code), a graffiti containing only the name or abbreviation of this gang already is a racist expression, reminding the offended people of their gang activities. Also a graffiti is in most cases, the herald of more serious criminal activity to come. A person who does not know these gang activities would not be able to recognize the meaning of this graffiti. Also if a tag of this youth group or gang is placed on a building occupied by asylum seekers, for example, its racist character is even stronger.
By making the graffiti less explicit (as adapted to social and legal constraints), these drawings are less likely to be removed, but do not lose their threatening and offensive character.
Elsewhere, activists in Russia have used painted caricatures of local officials with their mouths as potholes, to show their anger about the poor state of the roads. In Manchester, England, a graffitists painted obscene images around potholes, which often resulted in them being repaired within 48 hours.
In the early 1980s, the first art galleries to show graffitists to the public were Fashion Moda in the Bronx, Now Gallery and Fun Gallery, both in the East Village, Manhattan.
A 2006 exhibition at the Brooklyn Museum displayed graffiti as an art form that began in New York's outer boroughs and reached great heights in the early 1980s with the work of Crash, Lee, Daze, Keith Haring, and Jean-Michel Basquiat. It displayed 22 works by New York graffitists, including Crash, Daze, and Lady Pink. In an article about the exhibition in the magazine Time Out, curator Charlotta Kotik said that she hoped the exhibition would cause viewers to rethink their assumptions about graffiti.
From the 1970s onwards, Burhan Doğançay photographed urban walls all over the world; these he then archived for use as sources of inspiration for his painterly works. The project today known as "Walls of the World" grew beyond even his own expectations and comprises about 30,000 individual images. It spans a period of 40 years across five continents and 114 countries. In 1982, photographs from this project comprised a one-man exhibition titled "Les murs murmurent, ils crient, ils chantent ..." (The walls whisper, shout and sing ...) at the Centre Georges Pompidou in Paris.
In Australia, art historians have judged some local graffiti of sufficient creative merit to rank them firmly within the arts. Oxford University Press's art history text Australian Painting 1788–2000 concludes with a long discussion of graffiti's key place within contemporary visual culture, including the work of several Australian practitioners.
Between March and April 2009, 150 artists exhibited 300 pieces of graffiti at the Grand Palais in Paris.
Spray paint has many negative environmental effects. The paint contains toxic chemicals, and the can uses volatile hydrocarbon gases to spray the paint onto a surface.
Volatile organic compound (VOC) leads to ground level ozone formation and most of graffiti related emissions are VOCs. A 2010 paper estimates 4,862 tons of VOCs were released in the United States in activities related to graffiti.
In China, Mao Zedong in the 1920s used revolutionary slogans and paintings in public places to galvanize the country's communist movement.
Based on different national conditions, many people believe that China's attitude towards Graffiti is fierce, but in fact, according to Lance Crayon in his film Spray Paint Beijing: Graffiti in the Capital of China, Graffiti is generally accepted in Beijing, with artists not seeing much police interference. Political and religiously sensitive graffiti, however, is not allowed.
In Hong Kong, Tsang Tsou Choi was known as the King of Kowloon for his calligraphy graffiti over many years, in which he claimed ownership of the area. Now some of his work is preserved officially.
In Taiwan, the government has made some concessions to graffitists. Since 2005 they have been allowed to freely display their work along some sections of riverside retaining walls in designated "Graffiti Zones". From 2007, Taipei's department of cultural affairs also began permitting graffiti on fences around major public construction sites. Department head Yong-ping Lee (李永萍) stated, "We will promote graffiti starting with the public sector, and then later in the private sector too. It's our goal to beautify the city with graffiti". The government later helped organize a graffiti contest in Ximending, a popular shopping district. graffitists caught working outside of these designated areas still face fines up to NT$6,000 under a department of environmental protection regulation. However, Taiwanese authorities can be relatively lenient, one veteran police officer stating anonymously, "Unless someone complains about vandalism, we won't get involved. We don't go after it proactively."
In 1993, after several expensive cars in Singapore were spray-painted, the police arrested a student from the Singapore American School, Michael P. Fay, questioned him, and subsequently charged him with vandalism. Fay pleaded guilty to vandalizing a car in addition to stealing road signs. Under the 1966 Vandalism Act of Singapore, originally passed to curb the spread of communist graffiti in Singapore, the court sentenced him to four months in jail, a fine of S$3,500 (US$2,233), and a caning. The New York Times ran several editorials and op-eds that condemned the punishment and called on the American public to flood the Singaporean embassy with protests. Although the Singapore government received many calls for clemency, Fay's caning took place in Singapore on 5 May 1994. Fay had originally received a sentence of six strokes of the cane, but the presiding president of Singapore, Ong Teng Cheong, agreed to reduce his caning sentence to four lashes.
In South Korea, Park Jung-soo was fined two million South Korean won by the Seoul Central District Court for spray-painting a rat on posters of the G-20 Summit a few days before the event in November 2011. Park alleged that the initial in "G-20" sounds like the Korean word for "rat", but Korean government prosecutors alleged that Park was making a derogatory statement about the president of South Korea, Lee Myung-bak, the host of the summit. This case led to public outcry and debate on the lack of government tolerance and in support of freedom of expression. The court ruled that the painting, "an ominous creature like a rat" amounts to "an organized criminal activity" and upheld the fine while denying the prosecution's request for imprisonment for Park.
In Europe, community cleaning squads have responded to graffiti, in some cases with reckless abandon, as when in 1992 in France a local Scout group, attempting to remove modern graffiti, damaged two prehistoric paintings of bison in the Cave of Mayrière supérieure near the French village of Bruniquel in Tarn-et-Garonne, earning them the 1992 Ig Nobel Prize in archeology.
In September 2006, the European Parliament directed the European Commission to create urban environment policies to prevent and eliminate dirt, litter, graffiti, animal excrement, and excessive noise from domestic and vehicular music systems in European cities, along with other concerns over urban life.
In Budapest, Hungary, both a city-backed movement called I Love Budapest and a special police division tackle the problem, including the provision of approved areas.
The Anti-social Behaviour Act 2003 became Britain's latest anti-graffiti legislation. In August 2004, the Keep Britain Tidy campaign issued a press release calling for zero tolerance of graffiti and supporting proposals such as issuing "on the spot" fines to graffiti offenders and banning the sale of aerosol paint to anyone under the age of 16. The press release also condemned the use of graffiti images in advertising and in music videos, arguing that real-world experience of graffiti stood far removed from its often-portrayed "cool" or "edgy'" image.
To back the campaign, 123 Members of Parliament (MPs) (including then Prime Minister Tony Blair), signed a charter which stated: "Graffiti is not art, it's crime. On behalf of my constituents, I will do all I can to rid our community of this problem."
In the UK, city councils have the power to take action against the owner of any property that has been defaced under the Anti-social Behaviour Act 2003 (as amended by the Clean Neighbourhoods and Environment Act 2005) or, in certain cases, the Highways Act. This is often used against owners of property that are complacent in allowing protective boards to be defaced so long as the property is not damaged.
In July 2008, a conspiracy charge was used to convict graffitists for the first time. After a three-month police surveillance operation, nine members of the DPM crew were convicted of conspiracy to commit criminal damage costing at least £1 million. Five of them received prison sentences, ranging from eighteen months to two years. The unprecedented scale of the investigation and the severity of the sentences rekindled public debate over whether graffiti should be considered art or crime.
Some councils, like those of Stroud and Loerrach, provide approved areas in the town where graffitists can showcase their talents, including underpasses, car parks, and walls that might otherwise prove a target for the "spray and run".
Graffiti Tunnel, University of Sydney at Camperdown (2009)
In an effort to reduce vandalism, many cities in Australia have designated walls or areas exclusively for use by graffitists. One early example is the "Graffiti Tunnel" located at the Camperdown Campus of the University of Sydney, which is available for use by any student at the university to tag, advertise, poster, and paint. Advocates of this idea suggest that this discourages petty vandalism yet encourages artists to take their time and produce great art, without worry of being caught or arrested for vandalism or trespassing.[108][109] Others disagree with this approach, arguing that the presence of legal graffiti walls does not demonstrably reduce illegal graffiti elsewhere. Some local government areas throughout Australia have introduced "anti-graffiti squads", who clean graffiti in the area, and such crews as BCW (Buffers Can't Win) have taken steps to keep one step ahead of local graffiti cleaners.
Many state governments have banned the sale or possession of spray paint to those under the age of 18 (age of majority). However, a number of local governments in Victoria have taken steps to recognize the cultural heritage value of some examples of graffiti, such as prominent political graffiti. Tough new graffiti laws have been introduced in Australia with fines of up to A$26,000 and two years in prison.
Melbourne is a prominent graffiti city of Australia with many of its lanes being tourist attractions, such as Hosier Lane in particular, a popular destination for photographers, wedding photography, and backdrops for corporate print advertising. The Lonely Planet travel guide cites Melbourne's street as a major attraction. All forms of graffiti, including sticker art, poster, stencil art, and wheatpasting, can be found in many places throughout the city. Prominent street art precincts include; Fitzroy, Collingwood, Northcote, Brunswick, St. Kilda, and the CBD, where stencil and sticker art is prominent. As one moves farther away from the city, mostly along suburban train lines, graffiti tags become more prominent. Many international artists such as Banksy have left their work in Melbourne and in early 2008 a perspex screen was installed to prevent a Banksy stencil art piece from being destroyed, it has survived since 2003 through the respect of local street artists avoiding posting over it, although it has recently had paint tipped over it.
In February 2008 Helen Clark, the New Zealand prime minister at that time, announced a government crackdown on tagging and other forms of graffiti vandalism, describing it as a destructive crime representing an invasion of public and private property. New legislation subsequently adopted included a ban on the sale of paint spray cans to persons under 18 and increases in maximum fines for the offence from NZ$200 to NZ$2,000 or extended community service. The issue of tagging become a widely debated one following an incident in Auckland during January 2008 in which a middle-aged property owner stabbed one of two teenage taggers to death and was subsequently convicted of manslaughter.
Graffiti databases have increased in the past decade because they allow vandalism incidents to be fully documented against an offender and help the police and prosecution charge and prosecute offenders for multiple counts of vandalism. They also provide law enforcement the ability to rapidly search for an offender's moniker or tag in a simple, effective, and comprehensive way. These systems can also help track costs of damage to a city to help allocate an anti-graffiti budget. The theory is that when an offender is caught putting up graffiti, they are not just charged with one count of vandalism; they can be held accountable for all the other damage for which they are responsible. This has two main benefits for law enforcement. One, it sends a signal to the offenders that their vandalism is being tracked. Two, a city can seek restitution from offenders for all the damage that they have committed, not merely a single incident. These systems give law enforcement personnel real-time, street-level intelligence that allows them not only to focus on the worst graffiti offenders and their damage, but also to monitor potential gang violence that is associated with the graffiti.
Many restrictions of civil gang injunctions are designed to help address and protect the physical environment and limit graffiti. Provisions of gang injunctions include things such as restricting the possession of marker pens, spray paint cans, or other sharp objects capable of defacing private or public property; spray painting, or marking with marker pens, scratching, applying stickers, or otherwise applying graffiti on any public or private property, including, but not limited to the street, alley, residences, block walls, and fences, vehicles or any other real or personal property. Some injunctions contain wording that restricts damaging or vandalizing both public and private property, including but not limited to any vehicle, light fixture, door, fence, wall, gate, window, building, street sign, utility box, telephone box, tree, or power pole.
To help address many of these issues, many local jurisdictions have set up graffiti abatement hotlines, where citizens can call in and report vandalism and have it removed. San Diego's hotline receives more than 5,000 calls per year, in addition to reporting the graffiti, callers can learn more about prevention. One of the complaints about these hotlines is the response time; there is often a lag time between a property owner calling about the graffiti and its removal. The length of delay should be a consideration for any jurisdiction planning on operating a hotline. Local jurisdictions must convince the callers that their complaint of vandalism will be a priority and cleaned off right away. If the jurisdiction does not have the resources to respond to complaints in a timely manner, the value of the hotline diminishes. Crews must be able to respond to individual service calls made to the graffiti hotline as well as focus on cleanup near schools, parks, and major intersections and transit routes to have the biggest impact. Some cities offer a reward for information leading to the arrest and prosecution of suspects for tagging or graffiti related vandalism. The amount of the reward is based on the information provided, and the action taken.
When police obtain search warrants in connection with a vandalism investigation, they are often seeking judicial approval to look for items such as cans of spray paint and nozzles from other kinds of aerosol sprays; etching tools, or other sharp or pointed objects, which could be used to etch or scratch glass and other hard surfaces; permanent marking pens, markers, or paint sticks; evidence of membership or affiliation with any gang or tagging crew; paraphernalia including any reference to "(tagger's name)"; any drawings, writing, objects, or graffiti depicting taggers' names, initials, logos, monikers, slogans, or any mention of tagging crew membership; and any newspaper clippings relating to graffiti crime.
Saturday.
And already, our days in the heather-thatched cottage are coming to an end, as we leave here in two days. Oh dearie dearie me.
But before then, a major problem, in that we are running out of clean clothes. With our dongle-provided mega-slow internet connection, I find a post code of a laundrette in Hexham. With bags of rancid washing, we climb into the car and drive to the bright lights of Hexham.
The laundrette, or laundry, will do our clothes, and do them in three hours, so disaster averted. Waitrose opened at eight, so we stocked up on beer/cider and also got croissants for breakfast. So, despite being at the northern extreme of the empire, we could have a French style breakfast.
Outside, all was grey and gloomy; a light drizzle fell, so after discovering the car radio could pick up DAB radio, we tried the radio we brought inside, and with the radio in the one place in the living room that could pick up a signal, we sat listening to Danny Baker and his milk bottle-inspired stories.
As you do.
I look at some leaflets, and recall listening to a funny radio show by Mark Steel about Barnard’s Castle. The Bowes Museum looks like a French Chateau, has paintings and stuff. Which is why in ten minutes, we have loaded up the car and are heading to County Durham, again.
Up through Hexham, pausing to collect our freshly laundered washing, then up along narrow wall-lined lanes, up in the to foothills. Oddly, it all looked familiar, then it clicked: this was the road we travelled when we came up for a wedding on an old RAF friend of mine.
Anyway, past the Traveller’s Rest pub, and along roads that went up and down like a roller coaster, until the rad began to climb up and up. And just kept going. Soon we were ount on the moors, travelling along a road lined with wooden posts, used to find it when the snow fell. It was wonderfully bleak stuff.
The light was sensational, illuminating the rolling hills, covered with heather; glowing purple in the sunlight.
The road then started to descend, then drop like a stone into the town of Stanhope. We crossed the river, then the road reared up like a bucking bronko once again, in triple hairpin bends. Then we were crossing moors again, sunlight playing on the rolling moors. The fields were unfenced, so as well as the ducking and diving road, there were the silly sheep to contend with, who were prone to just wandering across the road.
A lone descent once again this time towards Barnard’s Castle, into a fine market town, the high street lined with interesting shops, and at the far end, a round building, around which a roundabout had been built. As you do.
We turned left to the Bowes Museum, and although we knew it was built to look like a French Chateau, to see it there, in the wilds of County Durham, is quite extraordinary.
We were able to par on the wide driveway, walk across the ornamental garden, thus ruining peoples shots, and up the steps leading to the terrace and entrance. The museum has just opened an exhibition of the French designer Yves Saint Laurent, is that how you spell it? Anyway, fashionistas of all ages were there, and us looking like two parcels of scruff. We paid for the ordinary entrance with out the YSL ticket.
We go for lunch, with it being near two, and order a snack: fish chowder for me, and rarebit for Jools, which did look very nice. But then I did just order and eat fish, other than fried, for the second time this trip.
Up the grand staircase to the top floor to look at the art galleries, with wonderful renaissance art from all over Europe. Wonderful stuff, and well worth the entrance feel of nine English pounds. Sadly, the swan automaton was being serviced, so we did not see that, just a film of it. But still wonderful.
Back outside, we walk to the town for a wander and for me to take shots. I am thirsty so we go to a tea rooms and i have a scone and a pot of tea. All very civilised. We walk up and down the main street, I buy a couple of books i have been hunting from a fine 2nd hand shop, then it is time to walk back to the car for the drive back.
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Dedicated, like many local churches, to the Blessed Virgin Mary, our Parish Church owes its foundation in about 1130 AD to Bernard de Baliol, who built the Castle. It forms part of an important town centre group near the Market Cross and Marketplace, contributing to the charm of the unspoilt town centre.
Originally a daughter church of the parish of Gainford, Barnard Castle was in the gift of St. Mary’s Abbey at York until after the Dissolution of the Monasteries in 1539. Trinity College, Cambridge, then became the patrons, and have appointed the incumbents ever since, In 1866 Barnard Castle became a separate parish with its own Vicar, instead of a Perpetual Curate from Gainford, A great benefactor of the church was Richard, Duke of Gloucester (afterwards Richard ifi), who was Lord of Barnard Castle from 1477-85. He greatly extended and beautified the church at his own cost and intended to found a college of priests here, although the plan was not apparently put into effect. His supposed effigy is on the south side of the Chancel arch, and his wild boar emblem is carved on the outside of the east window in the South Transept .
There are some interesting monuments, including that of Robert de Mortham, a 14th century vicar of Gainford in the North Transept. The entrance porch has memorials to Sir John & Lady Hullock, a local man who became a judge and Baron of the Exchequer, and to an officer who died of wounds received in the charge of the Light Brigade at Balaclava.
The church plate includes two fine silver chalices dated 1670 and 1680, both still in weekly use.
The font, of stone from the local river known as Tees Marble, is unique, and dates from 1485. The markings on it deft historians’ attempts at interpretation, but are probably a Medieval Guild or Brotherhood Mark.
The South Doorway, which was plastered over in the wall of the South Aisle until the restoration works of the 19th century, is of the Transitional Period between the 12th & 13th centuries. The bases are Early English. The upper order of mouldings has Norman characteristics. Drawings of the early 18th century indicate the presence of an outer porch of Georgian design.
Outside to the west of the South Door stands the interesting table tomb of Humphrey Hopper, of Black Headley, Northumberland.
The Architecture
30 Norman Period: The original church was an oblong nave without aisles or transepts, and with a long chancel. Very little of this now remains. The North Aisle arcade dates from late Norman times (1180).
1300 Early English Period: The South Arcade of pointed arches and octagonal pillars was added and a spire erected on the low tower.
1380 Decorated Period: The North Transept was built and a chantry chapel added.
1480 Perpendicular Period: Richard, Duke of Gloucester, widened and extended the aisles and transepts, raised the walls of the Nave and Chancel and built a rood- loft. The Church reached its present size and approximate form at this time.
1780 George III: The Church was in wretched condition. Burials took place inside the Church no paved floor existed. It was very damp, without light or heat.
1814 George IV & Victoria: Various schemes were carried out. The Nave floor was lowered two feet, pews were installed, galleries removed, the organ loft built and stained glass windows inserted. The old tower was demolished and the present one built at a cost of £2000.
1960 Elizabeth H: Choir screen was removed. The font was moved from the tower porch to form a new baptistry. The organ was removed to the South Transept and the new Chapel of St. Margaret of Scotland was created from the former organ loft.
1983 Re-roofing of the Chancel, Nave and South Aisle and Transept was begun, using stainless steel in place of the original lead sheet covering. This work was completed in 1992.
1986 Aumbry for the reservation of the Holy Sacrament was installed.
2003- Re-siting of organ at West end of the Church
Too many problems oh why am I here
I don't need to be me
'cos you're all too clear
well and I can see
there's something wrong with you
but what do you expect me to do?.
At least I gotta know what I wanna be
don't come to me if you need pity
The lab had a problem processing this roll when the tape failed while it was in the chemistry. The tech tried to get some more tape onto it in the dark and managed to pull it through but this first frame has some added special effects.
We stayed at the City of Arts and Sciences from late afternoon till night time. There was a beautiful blue cast through twilight and then, about 8.00pm the lights came on. I forgot the tripod so it was a case of having a steady hand. A bit of noise in there but I'm glad I hung around - we had a few glasses of wine as well needless to say.
We decided to go for a city break rather than sun in Tenerife again this September. Other than a few days in the North East we haven’t been away since last March and wanted a change and hopefully some sun. The problem is getting flights from the north of England to the places we want to go to. We chose Valencia as we could fly from East Midlands – which was still a pain to get to as it involved the most notorious stretch of the M1 at five in the morning. In the end we had a fairly good journey, the new Ryanair business class pre-booked scheme worked quite well and bang on time as usual. It was dull when we landed with storms forecast all week, the sky was bright grey – the kiss of death to the photography I had in mind. I was full of cold and wishing I was at work. It did rain but it was overnight on our first night and didn't affect us. There has been a drought for eleven months apparently and it rained on our first day there! The forecast storms didn't materialise in Valencia but they got it elsewhere.
You May notice discrepancies in the spelling of some Spanish words or names, this is because Valencian is used on signs, in some guide books and maps. There are two languages in common use with distinct differences. There may also be genuine mistakes - it has been known!
Over the course of a Monday to Sunday week we covered 75 miles on foot and saw most of the best of Valencia – The City of Bell Towers. The Old City covers a pretty large area in a very confusing layout. There was a lot of referring to maps – even compass readings! – a first in a city for us. The problem with photography in Valencia is that most of the famous and attractive building are closely built around, some have poor quality housing built on to them. Most photographs have to be taken from an extreme angle looking up. There are no high points as it is pan flat, there are a small number of buildings where you can pay to go up on to the roof for a better view and we went up them – more than once!
The modern buildings of The City of Arts and Sciences – ( Ciutat de Las Arts I de les Ciencies ) are what the city has more recently become famous for, with tourists arriving by the coachload all day until late at night. They must be photographed millions of times a month. We went during the day and stayed till dark one evening, I gave it my best shot but a first time visit is always a compromise between ambition and realism, time dictates that we have to move on to the next destination. I travelled with a full size tripod – another first – I forgot to take it with me to TCoAaS! so It was time to wind up the ISO, again! Needless to say I never used the tripod.
On a day when rain was forecast but it stayed fine, albeit a bit dull, we went to the Bioparc north west of the city, a zoo by another name. There are many claims made for this place, were you can appear to walk alongside some very large animals, including, elephants, lions, giraffe, rhino, gorillas and many types of monkey to name a few. It is laid out in different geographical regions and there is very little between you and the animals, in some cases there is nothing, you enter the enclosure through a double door arrangement and the monkeys are around you. It gets rave reviews and we stayed for most of the day. The animals it has to be said gave the appearance of extreme boredom and frustration and I felt quite sorry for them.
The course of The River Turia was altered after a major flood in the 50’s. The new river runs west of the city flanked by a motorway. The old river, which is massive, deep and very wide between ancient walls, I can’t imagine how it flooded, has been turned into a park that is five miles long. There is an athletics track, football pitches, cycle paths, restaurants, numerous kids parks, ponds, fountains, loads of bridges, historic and modern. At the western end closest to the sea sits The City of Arts and Sciences – in the river bed. Where it meets the sea there is Valencia’s urban Formula One racetrack finishing in the massive marina built for The Americas Cup. The race track is in use as roadways complete with fully removable street furniture, kerbs, bollards, lights, islands and crossings, everything is just sat on the surface ready to be moved.
We found the beach almost by accident, we were desperate for food after putting in a lot of miles and the afternoon was ticking by. What a beach, 100’s of metres wide and stretching as far as the eye could see with a massive promenade. The hard thing was choosing, out of the dozens of restaurants, all next door to each other, all serving traditional Paella – rabbit and chicken – as well as seafood, we don’t eat seafood and it constituted 90% of the menu in most places. Every restaurant does a fixed price dish of the day, with a few choices, three courses and a drink. Some times this was our only meal besides making the most of the continental breakfast at the hotel. We had a fair few bar stops with the local wine being cheap and pleasant it would have been a shame not to, there would have been a one woman riot – or strike!
On our final day, a Sunday, we were out of bed and down for breakfast at 7.45 as usual, the place was deserted barring a waiter. We walked out of the door at 8.30 – in to the middle of a mass road race with many thousands of runners, one of a series that take place in Valencia – apparently! We struggled to find out the distance, possibly 10km. The finish was just around the corner so off we went with the camera gear, taking photos of random runners and groups. There was a TV crew filming it and some local celebrity (I think) commentating. Next we came across some sort of wandering religious and musical event. Some sort of ritual was played out over the course of Sunday morning in various locations, it involved catholic priests and religious buildings and another film crew. The Catholic tourists and locals were filling the (many) churches for Sunday mass. Amongst all of this we had seen men walking around in Arab style dress – the ones in black looked like the ones from ISIS currently beheading people – all carrying guns. A bit disconcerting. We assumed that there had been some sort of battle enactment. We were wrong, it hadn’t happened yet. A while later, about 11.30 we could hear banging, fireworks? No it was our friends with the guns. We were caught up in total mayhem, around 60 men randomly firing muskets with some sort of blank rounds, the noise, smoke and flames from the muzzles were incredible. We were about to climb the Torres de Serranos which is where, unbeknown to us, the grand, and deafening, finale was going to be. We could feel the blast in our faces on top of the tower. Yet again there was a film camera in attendance. I couldn’t get close ups but I got a good overview and shot my first video with the 5D, my first in 5 years of owning a DLSR with the capability. I usually use my phone ( I used my phone as well). Later in the day there was a bullfight taking place, the ring was almost next to our hotel, in the end we had other things to do and gave it a miss, it was certainly a busy Sunday in the city centre, whether it’s the norm or not I don’t know.
There is a tram system in Valencia but it goes from the port area into the newer part of the city on the north side, it wouldn’t be feasible to serve the historic old city really. A quick internet search told me that there are 55,000 university students in the city, a pretty big number. I think a lot of the campus is on the north side and served by the tram although there is a massive fleet of buses as well. There is a massive, very impressive market building , with 100’s of stalls that would make a photo project on its own, beautiful on the inside and out but very difficult to get decent photos of the exterior other than detail shots owing to the closeness of other buildings and the sheer size of it. Across town, another market has been beautifully renovated and is full of bars and restaurants and a bit of a destination in its own right.
A downside was the all too typical shafting by the taxi drivers who use every trick in the book to side step the official tariffs and rob you. The taxi from the airport had a “broken” meter and on the way home we were driven 22 km instead of the nine that is the actual distance. Some of them seem to view tourists as cash cows to be robbed at all costs. I emailed the Marriot hotel as they ordered the taxi, needless to say no answer from Marriot – they’ve had their money. We didn’t get the rip off treatment in the bars etc. that we experienced in Rome, prices are very fair on most things, certainly considering the city location.
All in all we had a good trip and can highly recommend Valencia.
by Alfredo Fernandes
Alfi Art Production, Divar
41st Tiatr Competition A group of Kala Academy supported by TAG
13.10.2015
more here
joegoauk-tiatr.blogspot.in/2015/10/41st-tiatr-competition...
I purchased some Hasegawa Mirror Finish tape, but I'm having a real trouble trying to get it to apply nicely to the domed eye. I've gone through several cut outs and shapes but nothing has been good enough, this photo was the closest I got. GOnna keep trying though, I'm desperate for that chrome eye
The ranks of Greater Manchester Police Volunteer Cadets grew in number last night, 13 November 2017, when the latest intake’s passing out parade took place at Bolton’s Victoria Hall.
The event was attended by new recruits from cadet units across the region.
Chief Constable Ian Hopkins welcomed the new cadets to the force and presented them with their certificates.
The High Sheriff of Greater Manchester, Gerry Yeung OBE DL, also attended and made a speech congratulating the young people on their achievement.
The Mayor of Bolton, Councillor Roger Hayes was also amongst the special guests.
Hundreds of the new cadets friends and families packed the hall to watch the ceremony.
The Greater Manchester Police Volunteer Police Cadets were founded in 2012.
The scheme is aimed at 13- 17 year-olds and provides a programme of weekly Cadet nights filled with activity, information and – hopefully – some fun.
The aims of the scheme include:
•Promoting and encouraging a practical interest in policing among young people,
•Providing training which will encourage positive leadership within communities which will include volunteering opportunities,
•Encouraging a spirit of adventure and developing qualities of leadership and good citizenship. Cadets will be given the opportunity to obtain a Duke of Edinburgh Award, a First Aid qualification and more.
Cadet units are based in areas where there is currently little to occupy local youngsters.
Volunteers have to apply, stating their reasons for wanting to be part of the scheme and are encouraged to remain with the scheme for as long as they can.
On reaching the end of their time as a cadet, they will be given advice on careers and business, help with CVs and information about any opportunities to remain with the Force.
During a "probationary" period they experience drill, physical exercise classes and advice on subjects such as the effective and safe use of social media.
Further items on the curriculum are lessons on the law, public order awareness, phonetics and radio use, problem solving … and more drill!
The scheme's team leaders are also volunteers and include schools based officers, PCSO's, special constables and university students, all contributing their own time to run each cadet night.
To find out more about Greater Manchester Police please visit
You should call 101, the new national non-emergency number, to report crime and other concerns that do not require an emergency response.
Always call 999 in an emergency, such as when a crime is in progress, violence is being used or threatened or where there is danger to life.
You can also call anonymously with information about crime to Crimestoppers on 0800 555 111.
Crimestoppers is an independent charity who will not want your name, just your information. Your call will not be traced or recorded and you do not have to go to court or give a statement.
Lately, I've found myself reading a lot of articles and opinions on the oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico. After seeing some pretty horrific images of seabirds affected by the spill, this phrase popped into my head... and I suppose that is how this sketch came to be.
Hoping to eventually rework this into a more finished illustration. Just have to find the time!
Not a great picture, I know, but it's mostly here just in case it's a useful shot to illustrate articles on... I don't know, luggage handling and stuff.
More bus problems near Mashhad, close to the Afghanistan border and the tour leader suggested that some people might like to travel on ahead by local transport or by hitch-hiking. If we saw them on the road we would pick them up again. It was the the last time we saw most of them - hope they made it safely to their destinations.
More problems followed - someone who claimed to have a good deal of mechanical knowledge was worried about the general state of the brakes on the bus. He crawled underneath, had a look, declared them unsafe and completely disabled them saying that now they would definitely have to be repaired and made safe. He then disappeared back in the direction of Teheran. The rest of us were now stranded on the outskirts of Mashhad in the open, for a few days. I remember those nights as being fairly cold.
Our late winter break in Tenerife was a bit different this year. The weather was forecast to break the day we arrived – and it did! Rain wasn’t the problem it was gale force winds – the same winds that caused the dust storms in Africa that caused the pollution and sand in the UK. We have witnessed gales in Tenerife before but this was worse than we’d seen it in the past . The palm trees were bending, the sand drifting like snow and the sea was raging. We usually walk around 150 miles on a ten day break but for five days we just walked with a brief spell on the beach, then the gales came back. We covered 22 miles some days and totalled 192 miles, not bad for a beach holiday. In some of the photos it looks stunning but look at the tops of the palm trees, like inside out umbrellas, the beach beds are empty and the waves were up to ten feet high and smashing thirty feet in the air. For five days everyone stood taking photos of the sea. For two days all boats stayed in harbour, only the big ferries sailed, there wasn’t a thing at sea, not even the surfers, we’ve never known that happen before. To add to this jellyfish in their hundred were washing up on shore and there was a severe risk of a burn from them. Even when red flags were flying and flags warning about the jellyfish were up the occasional nutter would go in the water and some people took staggering risks with their children including one couple with a baby, dangling it over the waves, just to get a photo, playing chicken as monster waves crashed in.
One day I had to catch my club sandwich as it went flying from my plate in the wind, empty glasses slid off the table and seat cushions went cartwheeling down the pavement. A couple of days were dull and cool but the menacing clouds made impressive photos, the sea was like a boiling cauldron. We did have days of beautiful weather as well, the second half of the holiday was normal sunny Tenerife. I haven’t hired a car for ages on Tenerife, it adds a degree of hassle to – what is supposed to be – a sun and relax holiday so again we didn’t go up El Teide. Next time perhaps. I took my racing bike once just to cycle from sea level to 8000 feet nonstop – twice! it’s a seventy mile round trip and a long drag to the top. On the way home we had to make an emergency landing in Dublin, fire tenders with foam jets pointing at us, unfortunately I was facing the setting sun and couldn’t take photos as the sun was shining straight through the window. Seven and a half hours on the plane, not much fun.
To see more about the history of J B Schofield & Sons Ltd and their plant and vehicles look here: www.jbschofieldandsons.co.uk/
Hi all. Sorry i haven't been posting anything lately but im still have problems with my computer.
Problems:
Cannot see any of my photos (only upload).
Cannot see anyone else's photos.
Cannot see my photostream.
Cannot see anyone else's photostream.
Cannot see groups.
I can though see my homepage and my recent activity pages so thankyou to those people who have added me as a contact. ^_^
My computer should be fixed in about a week give or take a few days and then i shall be catching up on my 365 day project.
Thanks!
Ninho de pequenos.
Já teve problemas pra encontrar jogos de berço descolados, diferentes? Pensava que nunca ia encontrar aqui no Brasil? Pois saiba que tem sim e é tudo lindo!! Pra sair do tédio dos tons pastéis e colocar mais alegria no quarto dos pimpolhos!
The students in Problems You Have Never Solved Before started working on their concrete canoes before having to duck inside from the rain on Thursday, July 9. (Photo by Emilie Milcarek)
by Alfredo Fernandes
Alfi Art Production, Divar
41st Tiatr Competition A group of Kala Academy supported by TAG
13.10.2015
more here
joegoauk-tiatr.blogspot.in/2015/10/41st-tiatr-competition...
Diptesh Harmalkar
ROMA ARCHEOLOGICA & RESTAURO ARCHITETTURA 2023. Italian Minister Sangiuliano & the Uffizi Gallery - "American families spend $10-20,000 to come to Italy, will now pay $25 for a Gallery ticket - Not a problem!" Italian News Sources (10/01/2023). wp.me/pbMWvy-3BS
Foto: The Uffizi Galley of Florence & American Tourists: Alex Mucci & Eva Menta, Italian Influencers – visiting the Gallery, posing ‘Semi-Nude’ while being photographed among the Works of Art. Source: Courtsey of the Uffizi Galley of Florence (late Oct. 2022); in: RARA 2022.
www.flickr.com/photos/imperial_fora_of_rome/52620903640
1). ROME - Uffizi ticket prices in high season will rise to €25 from 1 March. WANTED IN ROME (10/01/2023).
The Uffizi in Florence will raise the price of individual tickets in the high season to cope with rising costs in the energy and construction sectors, the gallery said on Tuesday.
The new cost of tickets in the high season - from 1 March to 30 November - will be €25 instead of the current €20.
Foto: The Uffizi Galley of Florence & American Tourists: Foto of the Uffizi Galley & Italian Minister Sangiuliano. Source: Courtsey of the Uffizi Galley of Florence (late Oct. 2022).
www.flickr.com/photos/imperial_fora_of_rome/52620470391
However for early morning visitors during the high season there will be a discounted ticket price of €19 between 08.15 and 08.55.
The cost of tickets for Palazzo Pitti and the Boboli Gardens, which are part of the Uffizi Galleries complex, remain unchanged.
Seasonal and family passes also remain unchanged as does the €12 ticket price to visit the Uffizi during the low season (1 December to 28 February).
The increase in high-season ticket prices was decided by the Uffizi board of directors, and approved by the regional directorate of museums of Tuscany and Italy's culture ministry.
Foto: The Uffizi Galley of Florence & American Tourists: Foto of the Uffizi Galley with Chiara Ferragni – Italian Influencer & Eike Schmitt – The Gallery Director. During Schmitt’s tenure – numerous Italian and Foreign Influencer are paraded among the Galley for Italian and International publicity. Courtsey of the Uffizi Galley of Florence & the La Repubblica (late July 2022).
www.flickr.com/photos/imperial_fora_of_rome/52620903390
"I think it's right, we have to adapt to European standards", culture minister Gennaro Sangiuliano told reporters at Pompeii on Tuesday in response to a question on the increase of the Uffizi ticket prices and the possibility that other Italian cultural sites will follow suit.
"On average, the large European sites cost more" - Sangiuliano said - "I think that the increase also responds to a so-called "moral" question: for an American family that spends €10-20 thousand to come to Italy, paying €20 for a ticket is something that can be done".
Foto: The Uffizi Galley of Florence & American Tourists: Foto of the entranceway leading into the Uffizi Galley – Americans tourists, Italian and foreign vistors are greeted by illegal vendors selling fake Italian luxary goods. Apparently the Italian Police and the Uffizi Galley security service is no where to be seen. Courtsey of the Uffizi Galley of Florence (2020 onwards).
www.flickr.com/photos/imperial_fora_of_rome/52619955842
Fonte / source:
--- WANTED IN ROME (10/01/2023).
www.wantedinrome.com/news/italys-uffizi-to-hike-ticket-pr...
2). ROMA - Il biglietto degli Uffizi costerà 25 euro per il caro energia: è polemica, la replica del ministro Sangiuliano. Virgilio / NOTIZIE (10/01/2023).
Foto: The Uffizi Galley of Florence & American Tourists: Ilona Staller = “Cicciolina’, former member of the Italian Parliament (1987 – 1992), and earlier Italian Porn star (mid-1970s – mid-1980s). In mid-July 2021, Ms. Staller, aka Cicciolina, introduces Pornhub’s new “Classic Nudes” interactive museum guide & App, based upon the works of Art at the Uffizi Galley of Florence. Source: ‘Pornhub’ in the La Repubblica (mid-July 2021).
www.flickr.com/photos/imperial_fora_of_rome/52620950393
Polemiche per l'aumento del biglietto degli Uffizi, costerà 25 euro a causa dei rincari: la spiegazione del ministro Sangiuliano però lascia dei dubbi.
Per vedere le opere del Botticelli, ma non solo, si dovranno pagare di più. Il Cda degli Uffizi ha deciso di aumentare il prezzo del singolo biglietto alla Galleria delle statue e delle pitture per far fronte all’aumento dei costi dovuto al caro energia. Dall’1 marzo 2023 al 30 novembre dello stesso anno il ticket costerà 25 euro. Non sono mancate le polemiche per il rialzo, pronta la replica del ministro della Cultura, Gennaro Sangiuliano, che lo ha giustificato.
Quanto costa adesso il biglietto
Il periodo scelto per l’aumento del biglietto che vale l’accesso alla ‘Galleria delle statue e delle pitture’ va dal 1° marzo al 30 novembre: è quello definito di ‘alta stagione’.
Foto: The Uffizi Galley of Florence & American Tourists: Vittorio Sgarbi – Undersecretary at the Italian Ministry of Culture (Nov. 2022 onwards [under the direction of Italian Minister Sangiuliano]). In Early Nov. 2022, Undersecretary Sgarbi commented he found nothing wrong with Alex Mucci & Eva Menta, Italian Influencers – visiting the Gallery, posing ‘Semi-Nude’ while being photographed among the Works of Art. Source: NICOLAPORRO.IT (28/10/2022) & ANSA (31/10/2022).
www.flickr.com/photos/imperial_fora_of_rome/52620470386
Nel 2022, nella stessa fascia temporale, il ticket è costato 20 euro.
Ad oggi, e fino al 28 febbraio 2023, lo stesso biglietto costa 12 euro, come confermato dagli Uffizi in un comunicato: questo perché il periodo è di ‘bassa stagione’.
I motivi del rincaro
Il Cda degli Uffizi ha deciso di aumentare il prezzo del singolo ingresso individuale alla ‘Galleria delle statue e delle pitture’ per far fronte all’aumento dei costi nel settore energetico ed edilizio.
Il rialzo riguarderà il solo ticket di accesso singolo per la Galleria in alta stagione: statisticamente, spiegano gli Uffizi, si tratta di un biglietto acquistato per la maggior parte dai turisti stranieri.
Ci sarà comunque uno sconto mattutino, proprio in alta stagione, per chi entrerà al museo tra le 8:15 e le 8:55 (già sperimentato a Palazzo Pitti): il biglietto costerà 19 euro.
Invariati “i prezzi e tutta la scontistica di bassa stagione, oltre agli abbonamenti Passepartout 5 Giorni, Passepartout annuale e Passepartout Family”, recita la nota degli Uffizi.
La replica di Sangiuliano alle polemiche
Il ministro Gennaro Sangiuliano è intervenuto rispondendo alle polemiche nate sui social dopo l’aumento del costo del biglietto per accedere agli Uffizi: “Penso che sia giusto, dobbiamo adeguarci agli standard europei” ha detto, ripreso dall’Ansa.
“Mediamente i grandi siti europei costano di più – ha aggiunto – fatta eccezione per la Gran Bretagna dove c’è una situazione particolare. Penso che l’aumento risponda anche a una questione per così dire ‘morale’. Per una famiglia americana che spende 10-20 mila euro per venire in Italia, pagare 20 euro un biglietto è una cosa che si può fare”.
Quanto costano i biglietti dei grandi musei nelle altre città europee
Ma quanto costano i biglietti dei grandi musei in Europa? Le parole del ministro, in realtà, lasciano parecchi dubbi.
Ecco l’elenco dei principali, simulando un acquisto online per il periodo estivo del 2023:
Berlino: Pergamonmuseum 12 euro;
Madrid: Prado 15 euro; Reina Sofia 12 euro;
Parigi: Louvre 17 euro; Musée d’Orsay 14 euro (16 in loco);
Amsterdam: Museo Van Gogh 20 euro.
Fonte / source:
--- Virgilio / NOTIZIE (10/01/2023).
notizie.virgilio.it/il-biglietto-degli-uffizi-costera-25-...
Thoughts of the first trip to Grand Central “Madison” Feb 3, 2023
This was an event I had been looking forward to for quite some time, only to be delayed by the now famous ventilation problem at the new station. I finally had the opportunity to go this past Friday, and of course it was to be an extremely cold and windy day (temperatures dropping into the single numbers later in the day). But I’d be inside, so what the heck!
I purchased my tickets at the Mineola TVM, and noticed that instead of three machines there were now two. And as my tickets came out, along with two $1.00 coins, they were printed as going to “Grand Central” without the Madison. Arrived on track 1 at Jamaica and the “shuttle” train to Grand Central was waiting on track 5. A train of 8 M7’s, and it was to be an express train. Ridership was very light, only 4-5 passengers on the car I was on. All verbal announcements were to “Grand Central”.
Trip through the East River tunnel was very quick and smooth, and as we arrived near GCM we were held for an outbound train for about 1”.
We arrived on track 304 on the lower level of the new Grand Central (Madison) terminal, and all I can say is “Magnificent!” To summarize several hours of wandering around the facility, and purposely trying to get lost, it is a trip well worth the effort! As I stated before, ridership was very light, and now is a great time to visit, as the facility is very empty and you can roam around at leisure, and do whatever photographic work you want without people in the way. It is also perhaps the safest place to be in New York City, as there are uniformed MTA police in abundance, in fact you will never be out of sight of one. Also there are numerous MTA/LIRR employees and “Ambassadors” around to ask for assistance.
Architecturally the facility is both simple and modern, yet is highly functional, and contains some very colorful and pleasant art work. Even though you are way below ground (some 150’ from street level) there is no feeling of claustrophobia as the areas are spacious and well lite throughout. Also there are excellent views of arriving and departing trains at the train rooms. Along the upper corridors are many empty vendor locations, which in my opinion will most likely remain empty for quite some time to come, as I simply do not think there will be a demand for anything more than a place to pick up a few cans of beer for the trip home. Also the logistics of bringing product into the station will be difficult at best.
About the only criticism I might have is with the very long escalators from the Madison Ave corridor to the track levels. They are long, very, very, long! And when you look down (which you really don’t want to do), it’s a bit unnerving (182’ long and 90’ in depth, the ride takes almost two minutes). If you have a tendency towards Acrophobia & Vertigo, beware! To make matters worse the rubber hand rail belt moves slightly faster than the stairs (not uncommon) and as you hold on for dear life you will find your upper body being pulled forward and down. You’ll need to release your “death” grasp of the railing and move your hand back several times. Perhaps this will be less of a problem when the escalators are more crowded in the future, as sight distances will be less.
The upper Madison Ave corridor also contains state of the art ticket, & police areas, and there is plenty of signage to direct you into GCT. It can be said that the new facility does not in any way detract from the magnificence of Grand Central as we all knew it. It is separate and apart from the terminal, but certainly does provide a wonderful and weatherproof connection between the LIRR and MNRR. It really makes going to JFK airport simple for the MNRR rider, while providing the rider from Long Island an access to the East Side.
In retrospect it seems as though the “soft start” to the Grand Central service was a wise decision so that operational bugs could be sorted out before regular operations begins. This is an unusual luxury, as this is a service of “addition” rather than a replacement.
The return trip was with a train of 8 M9 cars, and the electronic signage was functional. I changed trains at Jamaica, and had considerable time to explore Jamaica station for the first in a long time.
Het probleem is dat iedereen negatief is over downtown Los Angeles, het is erg crimineel – zelfs de lokale bevolking vindt het – er zijn erg veel zwervers en het is gewoonweg een verschrikking, komt het eigenlijk wel op neer… je moet verstandig zijn met waar je heen gaat – bijvoorbeeld Miami – en dus ook downtown… dus wanneer gaat meneer? Uiteraard op een rustige zondagmorgen wanneer er amper volk is.
Mijn eerste ervaring met de metro, waarmee ik gereisd heb erheen was best aardig, alleen viel het wel op dat ik zo ongeveer de enige blanke persoon was… en ik heb er toch zeker een uur in gezeten, geen idee hoeveel verschillende etnische diversiteiten er in Los Angeles area zijn. Het is schoon, netjes en graffitiloos, qua leeftijd een mix tussen de Rotterdamse en Amsterdamse metro’s maar een metro mag het eigenlijk niet genoemd worden – valt het op dat ik geen subway zeg? – de woordenboekdefinitie geeft aan dat een metro een ‘vervoersmiddel met een eigen spoor of weg zonder enige kruisingen of obstructies van overige verkeersvormen’… in de Los Angeles area heet alles metro als het over openbaar vervoer gaat, of het een bus, een tram of wat dan ook is. Metro Local, Metro Rapid, Metro Rail en Metro Express, de eerste twee zijn bussen, de andere twee sneltrams – metrotoestellen die op de openbare weg rijden, inderdaad met zichtbare draaistellen – tegen de regelgeving in Europa bijvoorbeeld, en dat in een land met zoveel ‘lawsuits’.
Het meest opvallende is dat je in de metro alleen de omroepinstallatie Engels hoort praten, want het is gewoon klein España erin… tot aan de posters aan toe, het volk is bijna al Spaanstalig, berichten worden in twee talen gegeven en zelfs de bordjes zijn Engels / Spaans! Dan kom je er echt achter dat minstens 20% van de stad gewoon echt alleen Spaans spreekt.
Voor de México reizigers, wil je het in een andere stad dan in Ciudad de México ook beleven, kom dan naar de stad der Engelen. De bouwstijl voornamelijk in het ‘midden’, de armere wijken, echt klein México. Aan de randen, kuststreken en in de heuvels staan grotere huizen, netter en meer Amerikaans, al dat er nog veel te verbeteren valt aan onderhoud en laat niet vergeten architectonische waarde! Het is bij elkaar geraapte zooi in veel gevallen. Op de kaart is het ook te zien, een strook van 7 tot 10 kilometer bevat grotere huizen, daarna wordt het kleiner en – niet te misstaan – crimineler. Mijn hotel is nieuw – recent gebouwd en ‘nep’ staalbouw met boardplaten wanden. Heb een luxe kamer, kingsize bed met ontbijt geboekt, krijg je een meter bredere kamer – 4 x 7.5 ongeveer – met koelkast, magnetrok, koffie en thee zetter, gratis internet, een zeer nette badkamer en vooral, véél ruimte, durf eigenlijk wel te zeggen meer dan in Hamburg voor een prijs van de helft tot een derde per nacht (prijs varieerde daar nogal).
Mijn hemel, wat is Long Beach een dump! En nee… niet Long Beach ten zuiden waar ik het eerst over had, dit is weer een andere… verwarring nog niet genoeg? Downtown, net uit de metro, wat een schok! Het was schoon, netjes en geen zwervers te zien – er zijn er 70.000 in totaal – maar even de straat uitgelopen, je kan het natuurlijk verkeerd hebben, bij god, deze zag er nog netter uit… om over verwarring te spreken.
Toch maar de camera voorzichtig gepakt, je hebt nog steeds de horrorverhalen gehoord en maar verder gelopen… ik heb nog niet eerder zo fijn in een binnenstad gelopen, de ruimte zo te hebben om foto’s te maken en van het ene toffe gebouw naar de volgende te lopen. Hoeveel ze er in downtown regio aan hebben gedaan om er een geweldige stad van te maken is indrukwekkend, praktisch geen vuiltje op straat te zien – logisch want er staan een $250 boeten EN 48 uur taakstraf op – maar ieder gebouw daar geplaatst heeft ook een stukje openbare ruimte verbeterd, van een mooie entreetrap met - bijpassende – betegeling op de stoepen, tot aan parkjes in commerciële gebouwen.
Ik had verwacht er een half uur te lopen, werden er vier of vijf, veel straten doorgekamd en veel gebouwen bezichtigd… tot ik eindelijk eens verkeerd liep en er achter kwam waar dat de problemen van de stad begonnen, letterlijk ernaast. Zwervers worden geweerd downtown, maar verderop kunnen ze hun gang gaan en alle parken zijn dus ook ‘bezet’ en zijn helaas niet goed of totaal niet te gebruiken door de mensen waar ze voor ontworpen zijn.
Het meest opvallende is dat Los Angeles vlak is, maar downtown op een heuvel staat, de straten lopen werkelijk van vlak ineens 7 graden hellend en dan ben je wel blij dat je goede schoenen aan hebt om 2 blokken te klimmen. De straat parallel ligt soms gewoon 15 meter lager. Gehry’s Walt Disnet Concert Hall is werkelijk fenomenaal om te zien, maar helaas zijn er wel wat ontwerpfouten gemaakt, voornamelijk in detaillering, want die is grofweg slecht te noemen. De platen bollen enigszins naar buiten en de hoeken zijn zó afschuwelijk te noemen, afwerking? Welke!
Vervolgens de hele binnenstad doorgelopen, uiteindelijk water gevonden – aan de Gehry kant van downtown zijn praktisch geen winkels, tip als iemand er heen wil gaan – en kan ‘the Coffee Bean’ goed aanraden, Starbucks is slecht vertegenwoordigd hier. En vervolgens een echte winkel gevonden in Sierra Mist ingeslagen, wat is dat spul toch veel beter dan de concurrentie. En al lopend is ineens de stad afgelopen… toch wel vreemd om het zo te zien, in Nederland heb je tenminste nog een singel ofzo er omheen. En nog iets opvallends, er is geen ‘grote markt’ dan had ik die ook niet verwacht in een Amerikaanse stad, maar er is geen centrum en de stad drijft alleen op zijn gebouwen erin, een plaza in de dichtste benadering ervan.
Nou… het was nog vroeg in de middag, laat ik maar eens naar Sunset Blvd. gaan, super bekende naam en wordt gelijk verbonden met Los Angeles – geen Hollywood – en de straat is wederom breed en schoon, maar… ondanks dat er een uniformiteit is bereikt door overal overduidelijke huisnummeraanduiding aan de gevels te hangen en het erg sfeervol in te richten, bied de straat werkelijk niets meer dan enige andere op de enkele winkel erin na, doei illusie. Deze is trouwens wel 10 kilometer lang, dus de westzijde ervan kan juist wel geweldig zijn, maar oost in ieder geval niet. Een observatorium lig niet ver naast Sunset, dus maar een poging gewaagd erheen te gaan, missie halverwege maar gestaakt, want die ging toch nergens heen en uiteindelijk maar goed, want ik was er toch niet gekomen op die manier. Vervolgens nog langs downtown gegaan om nog wat drinken in te slaan en daarna maar naar de hotelkamer gegaan, want mijn voeten wilde niet meer… vervolgens wilde ik de Flickr pagina updaten en wilde eerst even liggen omdat ik niet meer kon… 11 uur later wordt je gewekt door de wekker en dan weet je pas dat je toch wel een jetlag hebt… het was om 8 uur ’s avonds hier, toch zeker 5 uur ’s nachts in je eigen ritme…
Kaa-Booooom !
And We're Back From Canada =( !
Oh .. Em .. Gee !
Definitely One Of The BEST DAMN TRIPS I've Been To, If Not The BEST !
Everyone Over There, I'm Gonna Miss You SO MUCH !
Anyway ! I Miss Flickr Too .. So It's Kinda Good To Be Back ..
Oh And BTW .. I'm ALONE !
TOTALLY ALONE In Qatar !
Everyone's Out Traveling =P
And I'm Staying " HOME ALONE ! "
It's Fun I Guess xP ! But Can I Handle A Whole Month ?
We'll Just Have To Wait And See ^^" !
,
,
Cheers
ROMA ARCHEOLOGICA & RESTAURO ARCHITETTURA 2023. Italian Minister Sangiuliano & the Uffizi Gallery - "American families spend $10-20,000 to come to Italy, will now pay $25 for a Gallery ticket - Not a problem!" Italian News Sources (10/01/2023). wp.me/pbMWvy-3BS
Foto: The Uffizi Galley of Florence & American Tourists: Alex Mucci & Eva Menta, Italian Influencers – visiting the Gallery, posing ‘Semi-Nude’ while being photographed among the Works of Art. Source: Courtsey of the Uffizi Galley of Florence (late Oct. 2022); in: RARA 2022.
www.flickr.com/photos/imperial_fora_of_rome/52620903640
1). ROME - Uffizi ticket prices in high season will rise to €25 from 1 March. WANTED IN ROME (10/01/2023).
The Uffizi in Florence will raise the price of individual tickets in the high season to cope with rising costs in the energy and construction sectors, the gallery said on Tuesday.
The new cost of tickets in the high season - from 1 March to 30 November - will be €25 instead of the current €20.
Foto: The Uffizi Galley of Florence & American Tourists: Foto of the Uffizi Galley & Italian Minister Sangiuliano. Source: Courtsey of the Uffizi Galley of Florence (late Oct. 2022).
www.flickr.com/photos/imperial_fora_of_rome/52620470391
However for early morning visitors during the high season there will be a discounted ticket price of €19 between 08.15 and 08.55.
The cost of tickets for Palazzo Pitti and the Boboli Gardens, which are part of the Uffizi Galleries complex, remain unchanged.
Seasonal and family passes also remain unchanged as does the €12 ticket price to visit the Uffizi during the low season (1 December to 28 February).
The increase in high-season ticket prices was decided by the Uffizi board of directors, and approved by the regional directorate of museums of Tuscany and Italy's culture ministry.
Foto: The Uffizi Galley of Florence & American Tourists: Foto of the Uffizi Galley with Chiara Ferragni – Italian Influencer & Eike Schmitt – The Gallery Director. During Schmitt’s tenure – numerous Italian and Foreign Influencer are paraded among the Galley for Italian and International publicity. Courtsey of the Uffizi Galley of Florence & the La Repubblica (late July 2022).
www.flickr.com/photos/imperial_fora_of_rome/52620903390
"I think it's right, we have to adapt to European standards", culture minister Gennaro Sangiuliano told reporters at Pompeii on Tuesday in response to a question on the increase of the Uffizi ticket prices and the possibility that other Italian cultural sites will follow suit.
"On average, the large European sites cost more" - Sangiuliano said - "I think that the increase also responds to a so-called "moral" question: for an American family that spends €10-20 thousand to come to Italy, paying €20 for a ticket is something that can be done".
Foto: The Uffizi Galley of Florence & American Tourists: Foto of the entranceway leading into the Uffizi Galley – Americans tourists, Italian and foreign vistors are greeted by illegal vendors selling fake Italian luxary goods. Apparently the Italian Police and the Uffizi Galley security service is no where to be seen. Courtsey of the Uffizi Galley of Florence (2020 onwards).
www.flickr.com/photos/imperial_fora_of_rome/52619955842
Fonte / source:
--- WANTED IN ROME (10/01/2023).
www.wantedinrome.com/news/italys-uffizi-to-hike-ticket-pr...
2). ROMA - Il biglietto degli Uffizi costerà 25 euro per il caro energia: è polemica, la replica del ministro Sangiuliano. Virgilio / NOTIZIE (10/01/2023).
Foto: The Uffizi Galley of Florence & American Tourists: Ilona Staller = “Cicciolina’, former member of the Italian Parliament (1987 – 1992), and earlier Italian Porn star (mid-1970s – mid-1980s). In mid-July 2021, Ms. Staller, aka Cicciolina, introduces Pornhub’s new “Classic Nudes” interactive museum guide & App, based upon the works of Art at the Uffizi Galley of Florence. Source: ‘Pornhub’ in the La Repubblica (mid-July 2021).
www.flickr.com/photos/imperial_fora_of_rome/52620950393
Polemiche per l'aumento del biglietto degli Uffizi, costerà 25 euro a causa dei rincari: la spiegazione del ministro Sangiuliano però lascia dei dubbi.
Per vedere le opere del Botticelli, ma non solo, si dovranno pagare di più. Il Cda degli Uffizi ha deciso di aumentare il prezzo del singolo biglietto alla Galleria delle statue e delle pitture per far fronte all’aumento dei costi dovuto al caro energia. Dall’1 marzo 2023 al 30 novembre dello stesso anno il ticket costerà 25 euro. Non sono mancate le polemiche per il rialzo, pronta la replica del ministro della Cultura, Gennaro Sangiuliano, che lo ha giustificato.
Quanto costa adesso il biglietto
Il periodo scelto per l’aumento del biglietto che vale l’accesso alla ‘Galleria delle statue e delle pitture’ va dal 1° marzo al 30 novembre: è quello definito di ‘alta stagione’.
Foto: The Uffizi Galley of Florence & American Tourists: Vittorio Sgarbi – Undersecretary at the Italian Ministry of Culture (Nov. 2022 onwards [under the direction of Italian Minister Sangiuliano]). In Early Nov. 2022, Undersecretary Sgarbi commented he found nothing wrong with Alex Mucci & Eva Menta, Italian Influencers – visiting the Gallery, posing ‘Semi-Nude’ while being photographed among the Works of Art. Source: NICOLAPORRO.IT (28/10/2022) & ANSA (31/10/2022).
www.flickr.com/photos/imperial_fora_of_rome/52620470386
Nel 2022, nella stessa fascia temporale, il ticket è costato 20 euro.
Ad oggi, e fino al 28 febbraio 2023, lo stesso biglietto costa 12 euro, come confermato dagli Uffizi in un comunicato: questo perché il periodo è di ‘bassa stagione’.
I motivi del rincaro
Il Cda degli Uffizi ha deciso di aumentare il prezzo del singolo ingresso individuale alla ‘Galleria delle statue e delle pitture’ per far fronte all’aumento dei costi nel settore energetico ed edilizio.
Il rialzo riguarderà il solo ticket di accesso singolo per la Galleria in alta stagione: statisticamente, spiegano gli Uffizi, si tratta di un biglietto acquistato per la maggior parte dai turisti stranieri.
Ci sarà comunque uno sconto mattutino, proprio in alta stagione, per chi entrerà al museo tra le 8:15 e le 8:55 (già sperimentato a Palazzo Pitti): il biglietto costerà 19 euro.
Invariati “i prezzi e tutta la scontistica di bassa stagione, oltre agli abbonamenti Passepartout 5 Giorni, Passepartout annuale e Passepartout Family”, recita la nota degli Uffizi.
La replica di Sangiuliano alle polemiche
Il ministro Gennaro Sangiuliano è intervenuto rispondendo alle polemiche nate sui social dopo l’aumento del costo del biglietto per accedere agli Uffizi: “Penso che sia giusto, dobbiamo adeguarci agli standard europei” ha detto, ripreso dall’Ansa.
“Mediamente i grandi siti europei costano di più – ha aggiunto – fatta eccezione per la Gran Bretagna dove c’è una situazione particolare. Penso che l’aumento risponda anche a una questione per così dire ‘morale’. Per una famiglia americana che spende 10-20 mila euro per venire in Italia, pagare 20 euro un biglietto è una cosa che si può fare”.
Quanto costano i biglietti dei grandi musei nelle altre città europee
Ma quanto costano i biglietti dei grandi musei in Europa? Le parole del ministro, in realtà, lasciano parecchi dubbi.
Ecco l’elenco dei principali, simulando un acquisto online per il periodo estivo del 2023:
Berlino: Pergamonmuseum 12 euro;
Madrid: Prado 15 euro; Reina Sofia 12 euro;
Parigi: Louvre 17 euro; Musée d’Orsay 14 euro (16 in loco);
Amsterdam: Museo Van Gogh 20 euro.
Fonte / source:
--- Virgilio / NOTIZIE (10/01/2023).
notizie.virgilio.it/il-biglietto-degli-uffizi-costera-25-...
When you focus on problems, you'll have more problems. When you focus on possibilities, you'll have more opportunities. #problems #possibilities #opportunities
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is it becose they are 2 different brands (and should look for another yongnuo) or because they are connected after eachother and shoud i use a splitter with same length of cable?
btw yellow is Nikon and Bleu is Yongnuo
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Main Topic: Problem Solving Quotes
Related Topics: Problem, Level, Consciousness, Creation
No problem can be solved from the same level of consciousness that created it.
Author: Albert Einstein
Quotation Reference:
www.braintrainingtools.org/skills/no-problem-can-be-solve...