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Hong Kong, officially the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region of the People's Republic of China, is an autonomous territory south to Mainland China and east to Macao in East Asia. With around 7.2 million Hong Kongers of various nationalities[note 2] in a territory of 1,104 km2, Hong Kong is the world's fourth most densely populated country or territory.

 

Hong Kong used to be a British colony with the perpetual cession of Hong Kong Island from the Qing Empire after the First Opium War (1839–42). The colony expanded to the Kowloon Peninsula in 1860 and acquired a 99-year lease of the New Territories from 1898. Hong Kong was later occupied by Japan during the Second World War until British control resumed in 1945. The Sino-British Joint Declaration signed between the United Kingdom and China in 1984 paved way for the transfer of sovereignty of Hong Kong in 1997, when it became a special administrative region (SAR) of the People's Republic of China with a high degree of autonomy.[15]

 

Under the principle of "one country, two systems",[16][17] Hong Kong maintains a separate political and economic system from China. Except in military defence and foreign affairs, Hong Kong maintains its independent executive, legislative and judiciary powers.[18] In addition, Hong Kong develops relations directly with foreign states and international organisations in a broad range of "appropriate fields".[19] Hong Kong involves in international organizations, such as the WTO[20] and the APEC [21], actively and independently.

 

Hong Kong is one of the world's most significant financial centres, with the highest Financial Development Index score and consistently ranks as the world's most competitive and freest economic entity.[22][23] As the world's 8th largest trading entity,[24] its legal tender, the Hong Kong dollar, is the world's 13th most traded currency.[25] As the world's most visited city,[26][27] Hong Kong's tertiary sector dominated economy is characterised by competitive simple taxation and supported by its independent judiciary system.[28] Even with one of the highest per capita incomes in the world, it suffers from severe income inequality.[29]

 

Nicknamed "Pearl of the Orient", Hong Kong is renowned for its deep natural harbour, which boasts the world's fifth busiest port with ready access by cargo ships, and its impressive skyline, with the most skyscrapers in the world.[30][31] It has a very high Human Development Index ranking and the world's longest life expectancy.[32][33] Over 90% of the population makes use of well-developed public transportation.[34][35] Seasonal air pollution with origins from neighbouring industrial areas of Mainland China, which adopts loose emissions standards, has resulted in a high level of atmospheric particulates in winter.[36][37][38]

Contents

 

1 Etymology

2 History

2.1 Prehistory

2.2 Imperial China

2.3 British Crown Colony: 1842–1941

2.4 Japanese occupation: 1941–45

2.5 Resumption of British rule and industrialisation: 1945–97

2.6 Handover and Special Administrative Region status

3 Governance

3.1 Structure of government

3.2 Electoral and political reforms

3.3 Legal system and judiciary

3.4 Foreign relations

3.5 Human rights

3.6 Regions and districts

3.7 Military

4 Geography and climate

5 Economy

5.1 Financial centre

5.2 International trading

5.3 Tourism and expatriation

5.4 Policy

5.5 Infrastructure

6 Demographics

6.1 Languages

6.2 Religion

6.3 Personal income

6.4 Education

6.5 Health

7 Culture

7.1 Sports

7.2 Architecture

7.3 Cityscape

7.4 Symbols

8 See also

9 Notes

10 References

10.1 Citations

10.2 Sources

11 Further reading

12 External links

 

Etymology

 

Hong Kong was officially recorded in the 1842 Treaty of Nanking to encompass the entirety of the island.[39]

 

The source of the romanised name "Hong Kong" is not known, but it is generally believed to be an early imprecise phonetic rendering of the pronunciation in spoken Cantonese 香港 (Cantonese Yale: Hēung Góng), which means "Fragrant Harbour" or "Incense Harbour".[13][14][40] Before 1842, the name referred to a small inlet—now Aberdeen Harbour (Chinese: 香港仔; Cantonese Yale: Hēunggóng jái), literally means "Little Hong Kong"—between Aberdeen Island and the southern coast of Hong Kong Island. Aberdeen was an initial point of contact between British sailors and local fishermen.[41]

 

Another theory is that the name would have been taken from Hong Kong's early inhabitants, the Tankas (水上人); it is equally probable that romanisation was done with a faithful execution of their speeches, i.e. hōng, not hēung in Cantonese.[42] Detailed and accurate romanisation systems for Cantonese were available and in use at the time.[43]

 

Fragrance may refer to the sweet taste of the harbour's fresh water estuarine influx of the Pearl River or to the incense from factories lining the coast of northern Kowloon. The incense was stored near Aberdeen Harbour for export before Hong Kong developed Victoria Harbour.[40]

 

The name had often been written as the single word Hongkong until the government adopted the current form in 1926.[44] Nevertheless, a number of century-old institutions still retain the single-word form, such as the Hongkong Post, Hongkong Electric and the Hongkong and Shanghai Banking Corporation.

 

As of 1997, its official name is the "Hong Kong Special Administrative Region of the People's Republic of China". This is the official title as mentioned in the Hong Kong Basic Law and the Hong Kong Government's website;[45] however, "Hong Kong Special Administrative Region" and "Hong Kong" are widely accepted.

 

Hong Kong has carried many nicknames. The most famous among those is the "Pearl of the Orient", which reflected the impressive nightscape of the city's light decorations on the skyscrapers along both sides of the Victoria Harbour. The territory is also known as "Asia's World City".

History

Main articles: History of Hong Kong and History of China

Prehistory

Main article: Prehistoric Hong Kong

 

Archaeological studies support human presence in the Chek Lap Kok area (now Hong Kong International Airport) from 35,000 to 39,000 years ago and on Sai Kung Peninsula from 6,000 years ago.[46][47][48]

 

Wong Tei Tung and Three Fathoms Cove are the earliest sites of human habitation in Hong Kong during the Paleolithic Period. It is believed that the Three Fathom Cove was a river-valley settlement and Wong Tei Tung was a lithic manufacturing site. Excavated Neolithic artefacts suggested cultural differences from the Longshan culture of northern China and settlement by the Che people, prior to the migration of the Baiyue to Hong Kong.[49][50] Eight petroglyphs, which dated to the Shang Dynasty (c. 1600 BC – 1066 BC) in China, were discovered on the surrounding islands.[51]

Imperial China

Main article: History of Hong Kong under Imperial China

 

In 214 BC, Qin Shi Huang, the first emperor of a centralised China, conquered the Baiyue tribes in Jiaozhi (modern-day Liangguang region and Vietnam) and incorporated the area of Hong Kong into his imperial China for the first time. Hong Kong proper was assigned to the Nanhai commandery (modern-day Nanhai District), near the commandery's capital city Panyu.[52][53][54]

 

After a brief period of centralisation and collapse of the Qin dynasty, the area of Hong Kong was consolidated under the Kingdom of Nanyue, founded by general Zhao Tuo in 204 BC.[55] When Nanyue lost the Han-Nanyue War in 111 BC, Hong Kong came under the Jiaozhi commandery of the Han dynasty. Archaeological evidence indicates an increase of population and flourish of salt production. The Lei Cheng Uk Han Tomb on the Kowloon Peninsula is believed to have been built as a burial site during the Han dynasty.[56]

 

From the Han dynasty to the early Tang dynasty, Hong Kong was a part of Bao'an County. In the Tang dynasty, modern-day Guangzhou (Canton) flourished as an international trading centre. In 736, the Emperor Xuanzong of Tang established a military stronghold in Tuen Mun to strengthen defence of the coastal area.[57] The nearby Lantau Island was a salt production centre and salt smuggler riots occasionally broke out against the government. In c. 1075, The first village school, Li Ying College, was established around 1075 AD in modern-day New Territories by the Northern Song dynasty.[58] During their war against the Mongols, the imperial court of Southern Song was briefly stationed at modern-day Kowloon City (the Sung Wong Toi site) before their ultimate defeat by the Mongols at the Battle of Yamen in 1279.[59] The Mongols then established their dynastic court and governed Hong Kong for 97 years.

 

From the mid-Tang dynasty to the early Ming dynasty (1368–1644), Hong Kong was a part of Dongguan County. During the Ming dynasty, the area was transferred to Xin'an County. The indigenous inhabitants at that time consisted of several ethnicities such as Punti, Hakka, Tanka and Hoklo.

European discovery

 

The earliest European visitor on record was Jorge Álvares, a Portuguese explorer, who arrived in 1513.[60][61] Having established a trading post in a site they called "Tamão" in Hong Kong waters, Portuguese merchants commenced with regular trading in southern China. Subsequent military clashes between China and Portugal, however, led to the expulsion of all Portuguese merchants from southern China.

 

Since the 14th century, the Ming court had enforced the maritime prohibition laws that strictly forbade all private maritime activities in order to prevent contact with foreigners by sea.[62] When the Manchu Qing dynasty took over China, Hong Kong was directly affected by the Great Clearance decree of the Kangxi Emperor, who ordered the evacuation of coastal areas of Guangdong from 1661 to 1669. Over 16,000 inhabitants of Xin'an County including those in Hong Kong were forced to migrate inland; only 1,648 of those who had evacuated subsequently returned.[63][64]

British Crown Colony: 1842–1941

A painter at work. John Thomson. Hong Kong, 1871. The Wellcome Collection, London

Main articles: British Hong Kong and History of Hong Kong (1800s–1930s)

 

In 1839, threats by the imperial court of Qing to sanction opium imports caused diplomatic friction with the British Empire. Tensions escalated into the First Opium War. The Qing admitted defeat when British forces captured Hong Kong Island on 20 January 1841. The island was initially ceded under the Convention of Chuenpi as part of a ceasefire agreement between Captain Charles Elliot and Governor Qishan. A dispute between high-ranking officials of both countries, however, led to the failure of the treaty's ratification. On 29 August 1842, Hong Kong Island was formally ceded in perpetuity to the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland under the Treaty of Nanking.[65] The British officially established a Crown colony and founded the City of Victoria in the following year.[66]

 

The population of Hong Kong Island was 7,450 when the Union Flag raised over Possession Point on 26 January 1841. It mostly consisted of Tanka fishermen and Hakka charcoal burners, whose settlements scattered along several coastal hamlets. In the 1850s, a large number of Chinese immigrants crossed the then-free border to escape from the Taiping Rebellion. Other natural disasters, such as flooding, typhoons and famine in mainland China would play a role in establishing Hong Kong as a place for safe shelter.[67][68]

 

Further conflicts over the opium trade between Britain and Qing quickly escalated into the Second Opium War. Following the Anglo-French victory, the Crown Colony was expanded to include Kowloon Peninsula (south of Boundary Street) and Stonecutter's Island, both of which were ceded to the British in perpetuity under the Convention of Beijing in 1860.

 

In 1898, Britain obtained a 99-year lease from Qing under the Convention for the Extension of Hong Kong Territory, in which Hong Kong obtained a 99-year lease of Lantau Island, the area north of Boundary Street in Kowloon up to Shenzhen River and over 200 other outlying islands.[69][70][71]

 

Hong Kong soon became a major entrepôt thanks to its free port status, attracting new immigrants to settle from both China and Europe. The society, however, remained racially segregated and polarised under early British colonial policies. Despite the rise of a British-educated Chinese upper-class by the late-19th century, race laws such as the Peak Reservation Ordinance prevented ethnic Chinese in Hong Kong from acquiring houses in reserved areas such as Victoria Peak. At this time, the majority of the Chinese population in Hong Kong had no political representation in the British colonial government. The British governors did rely, however, on a small number of Chinese elites, including Sir Kai Ho and Robert Hotung, who served as ambassadors and mediators between the government and local population.

File:1937 Hong Kong VP8.webmPlay media

Hong Kong filmed in 1937

 

In 1904, the United Kingdom established the world's first border and immigration control; all residents of Hong Kong were given citizenship as Citizens of United Kingdom and Colonies (CUKC).

 

Hong Kong continued to experience modest growth during the first half of the 20th century. The University of Hong Kong was established in 1911 as the territory's first higher education institute. While there had been an exodus of 60,000 residents for fear of a German attack on the British colony during the First World War, Hong Kong remained unscathed. Its population increased from 530,000 in 1916 to 725,000 in 1925 and reached 1.6 million by 1941.[72]

 

In 1925, Cecil Clementi became the 17th Governor of Hong Kong. Fluent in Cantonese and without a need for translator, Clementi introduced the first ethnic Chinese, Shouson Chow, into the Executive Council as an unofficial member. Under Clementi's tenure, Kai Tak Airport entered operation as RAF Kai Tak and several aviation clubs. In 1937, the Second Sino-Japanese War broke out when the Japanese Empire expanded its territories from northeastern China into the mainland proper. To safeguard Hong Kong as a freeport, Governor Geoffry Northcote declared the Crown Colony as a neutral zone.

Japanese occupation: 1941–45

Main article: Japanese occupation of Hong Kong

The Cenotaph in Hong Kong commemorates those who died in service in the First World War and the Second World War.[73]

 

As part of its military campaign in Southeast Asia during Second World War, the Japanese army moved south from Guangzhou of mainland China and attacked Hong Kong in on 8 December 1941.[74] Crossing the border at Shenzhen River on 8 December, the Battle of Hong Kong lasted for 18 days when British and Canadian forces held onto Hong Kong Island. Unable to defend against intensifying Japanese air and land bombardments, they eventually surrendered control of Hong Kong on 25 December 1941. The Governor of Hong Kong was captured and taken as a prisoner of war. This day is regarded by the locals as "Black Christmas".[75]

 

During the Japanese occupation of Hong Kong, the Japanese army committed atrocities against civilians and POWs, such as the St. Stephen's College massacre. Local residents also suffered widespread food shortages, limited rationing and hyper-inflation arising from the forced exchange of currency from Hong Kong dollars to Japanese military banknotes. The initial ratio of 2:1 was gradually devalued to 4:1 and ownership of Hong Kong dollars was declared illegal and punishable by harsh torture. Due to starvation and forced deportation for slave labour to mainland China, the population of Hong Kong had dwindled from 1.6 million in 1941 to 600,000 in 1945, when the United Kingdom resumed control of the colony on 2 September 1945.[76]

Resumption of British rule and industrialisation: 1945–97

Main articles: British Hong Kong, 1950s in Hong Kong, 1960s in Hong Kong, 1970s in Hong Kong, 1980s in Hong Kong, and 1990s in Hong Kong

Flag of British Hong Kong from 1959 to 1997

 

Hong Kong's population recovered quickly after the war, as a wave of skilled migrants from the Republic of China moved in to seek refuge from the Chinese Civil War. When the Communist Party eventually took full control of mainland China in 1949, even more skilled migrants fled across the open border for fear of persecution.[69] Many newcomers, especially those who had been based in the major port cities of Shanghai and Guangzhou, established corporations and small- to medium-sized businesses and shifted their base operations to British Hong Kong.[69] The establishment of a socialist state in China (People's Republic of China) on 1 October 1949 caused the British colonial government to reconsider Hong Kong's open border to mainland China. In 1951, a boundary zone was demarked as a buffer zone against potential military attacks from communist China. Border posts along the north of Hong Kong began operation in 1953 to regulate the movement of people and goods into and out of the territory.

Stamp with portrait of Queen Elizabeth II, 1953

 

In the 1950s, Hong Kong became the first of the Four Asian Tiger economies under rapid industrialisation driven by textile exports, manufacturing industries and re-exports of goods to China. As the population grew, with labour costs remaining low, living standards began to rise steadily.[77] The construction of the Shek Kip Mei Estate in 1953 marked the beginning of the public housing estate programme to provide shelter for the less privileged and to cope with the influx of immigrants.

 

Under Sir Murray MacLehose, 25th Governor of Hong Kong (1971–82), a series of reforms improved the public services, environment, housing, welfare, education and infrastructure of Hong Kong. MacLehose was British Hong Kong's longest-serving governor and, by the end of his tenure, had become one of the most popular and well-known figures in the Crown Colony. MacLehose laid the foundation for Hong Kong to establish itself as a key global city in the 1980s and early 1990s.

A sky view of Hong Kong Island

An aerial view of the northern shore of Hong Kong Island in 1986

 

To resolve traffic congestion and to provide a more reliable means of crossing the Victoria Harbour, a rapid transit railway system (metro), the MTR, was planned from the 1970s onwards. The Island Line (Hong Kong Island), Kwun Tong Line (Kowloon Peninsula and East Kowloon) and Tsuen Wan Line (Kowloon and urban New Territories) opened in the early 1980s.[78]

 

In 1983, the Hong Kong dollar left its 16:1 peg with the Pound sterling and switched to the current US-HK Dollar peg. Hong Kong's competitiveness in manufacturing gradually declined due to rising labour and property costs, as well as new development in southern China under the Open Door Policy introduced in 1978 which opened up China to foreign business. Nevertheless, towards the early 1990s, Hong Kong had established itself as a global financial centre along with London and New York City, a regional hub for logistics and freight, one of the fastest-growing economies in Asia and the world's exemplar of Laissez-faire market policy.[79]

The Hong Kong question

 

In 1971, the Republic of China (Taiwan)'s permanent seat on the United Nations was transferred to the People's Republic of China (PRC), Hong Kong's status as a recognised colony became terminated in 1972 under the request of PRC. Facing the uncertain future of Hong Kong and expiry of land lease of New Territories beyond 1997, Governor MacLehose raised the question in the late 1970s.

 

The British Nationality Act 1981 reclassified Hong Kong into a British Dependent Territory amid the reorganisation of global territories of the British Empire. All residents of Hong Kong became British Dependent Territory Citizens (BDTC). Diplomatic negotiations began with China and eventually concluded with the 1984 Sino-British Joint Declaration. Both countries agreed to transfer Hong Kong's sovereignty to China on 1 July 1997, when Hong Kong would remain autonomous as a special administrative region and be able to retain its free-market economy, British common law through the Hong Kong Basic Law, independent representation in international organisations (e.g. WTO and WHO), treaty arrangements and policy-making except foreign diplomacy and military defence.

 

It stipulated that Hong Kong would retain its laws and be guaranteed a high degree of autonomy for at least 50 years after the transfer. The Hong Kong Basic Law, based on English law, would serve as the constitutional document after the transfer. It was ratified in 1990.[69] The expiry of the 1898 lease on the New Territories in 1997 created problems for business contracts, property leases and confidence among foreign investors.

Handover and Special Administrative Region status

Main articles: Transfer of sovereignty over Hong Kong and 2000s in Hong Kong

Transfer of sovereignty

Golden Bauhinia Square

 

On 1 July 1997, the transfer of sovereignty over Hong Kong from the United Kingdom to the People's Republic of China took place, officially marking the end of Hong Kong's 156 years under British colonial governance. As the largest remaining colony of the United Kingdom, the loss of Hong Kong effectively represented the end of the British Empire. This transfer of sovereignty made Hong Kong the first special administrative region of China. Tung Chee-Hwa, a pro-Beijing business tycoon, was elected Hong Kong's first Chief Executive by a selected electorate of 800 in a televised programme.

 

Structure of government

 

Hong Kong's current structure of governance inherits from the British model of colonial administration set up in the 1850s. The 1984 Sino-British Joint Declaration states that "Hong Kong should enjoy a high degree of autonomy in all areas except defence and foreign affairs" with reference to the underlying principle of one country, two systems.[note 3] This Declaration stipulates that Hong Kong maintains her capitalist economic system and guarantees the rights and freedoms of her people for at least 50 years after the 1997 handover. [note 4] Such guarantees are enshrined in the Hong Kong's Basic Law, the territory's constitutional document, which outlines the system of governance after 1997, albeit subject to interpretation by China's Standing Committee of the National People's Congress (NPCSC).[95][96]

 

Hong Kong's most senior leader, Chief Executive, is elected by a committee of 1,200 selected members (600 in 1997) and nominally appointed by the Government of China. The primary pillars of government are the Executive Council, Legislative Council, civil service and Judiciary.

 

Policy-making is initially discussed in the Executive Council, presided by the Chief Executive of Hong Kong, before passing to the Legislative Council for bill adoption. The Executive Council consists of 30 official/unofficial members appointed by the Chief Executive and one member among them acts as the convenor.[97][98]

 

The Legislative Council, set up in 1843, debates policies and motions before voting to adopt or rejecting bills. It has 70 members (originally 60) and 40 (originally 30) among them are directly elected by universal suffrage; the other 30 members are "functional constituencies" (indirectly) elected by a smaller electorate of corporate bodies or representatives of stipulated economic sectors as defined by the government. The Legislative Council is chaired by a president who acts as the speaker.[99][100]

 

In 1997, seating of the Legislative Council (also public services and election franchises) of Hong Kong modelled on the British system: Urban Council (Hong Kong and Kowloon) and District Council (New Territories and Outlying Islands). In 1999, this system has been reformed into 18 directly elected District Offices across 5 Legislative Council constituencies: Hong Kong Island (East/West), Kowloon and New Territories (East/West); the remaining outlying islands are divided across the aforementioned regions.

 

Hong Kong's Civil Service, created by the British colonial government, is a politically neutral body that implements government policies and provides public services. Senior civil servants are appointed based on meritocracy. The territory's police, firefighting and customs forces, as well as clerical officers across various government departments, make up the civil service.[101][102]

youtu.be/6M-MtZkZOzw?t=2s Full Feature

 

Starring Marshall Thompson, Kynaston Reeves, Michael Balfour, Kim Parker, Stanley Maxted, Gil Winfield, Shane Cordell, Terry Kilburn, James Dyrenforth, Peter Madden, Meadows White, and Lala Lloyd. Directed by Arthur Crabtree.

In December 1958 Eros Films, Ltd. had another British B sci-fi movie touring American. Fiend Without A Face (FwoF) ran as the B feature to "Haunted Strangler." Both were British productions being marketed in America by MGM. This is another example of the blurry line between sci-fi and horror. FwoF itself exists in that blurry zone. Mysterious, invisible "mental vampires" killing their victims takes up the bulk of the film. The final showdown with the creatures is classic monster movie. Yet, the tie-in to the customary misguided scientist and atomic energy keep FwoF in the sci-fi orbit.

Synopsis

A Canadian farmer is killed just outside of an American Air Force base in remote Canada. The villagers were already up in arms over the mere presence of the base (jets frightened their cows) so are convinced there is a mad GI on the loose. Major Jeff Cummings befriends the slain farmer's sister, Barbara. The base tests their super radar system again, but like before, it falters just as it seems to be succeeding. Something is draining off the atomic energy. More murders stir up the towns folk to revolt. Jeff is certain that a reclusive genius, Professor Walgate, is the key. Yet more murders occur, each preceded by a rhythmic thumping and squishing sound. Eventually, Walgate confesses that he was working on Thought Materialization -- telekinesis. He needed more power, so fabricated an energy hijacking device to siphon off the air base's transmitted power. (that's why the tests always failed) The extra power worked, but created separate beings rather than intensifying Walgate's own thoughts. The invisible beings escaped his lab and began to 'feed' on townsfolk by sucking out their brains. They need the reactor's power to exist. Jeff rushes to blow up the control room. The reactor is going into overload, so the beings become visible. Dozens of the brain and spinal cord things surround the house. They break in, kill a few people, but can also be killed. Many are. Just as one of the beings has got Barbara, the reactor is shut down. It falls limp. The brain things dissolve into foam. Jeff kisses Barbara. The End.

The monster murder mystery element is fairly well played so it keeps interest up. Once visible, the brain-things have some interest too. As a monster movie, it has some merit. Killer brain-creatures are quirky enough to stay interesting.

 

The Cold War provides a backdrop, but isn't the focus. The Air Force base's mission is early radar detection of Soviet aircraft coming over the pole. One could see the brain-things as manifestations of deadly atomic energy. (the invisible killer)They seem to fit better the usual science-gone-wrong theme.

Dr. Walgate fills the archetypal role of the naive scientist. He meant well with all his research and work. But, like many naive scientists who had gone before him, his assumptions prove wrong. His work gets away from him and becomes a force of destruction, not one of good for mankind. It has been fairly customary for the naive scientist to die at the hands (or whatever) of his creation. Walgate makes the noble sacrifice at the end, letting the creatures attack him while Jeff gets away.

The brain-creatures are akin to the "Id Monster" in Forbidden Planet. Man's most basic thoughts, if given independence, prove primal and ruthless. As a nuclear cautionary tale, the brain-creatures, man's primal thoughts, prove deadly if given atomic power. The stop-motion animation of the brain-creatures is not too bad. It's not Harryhausen, but it works.

We're told that the brain-creatures suck out the brains and spinal cord of their human victims. So, it interesting that the brain-creatures are depicted as brain shaped. They have a segmented spinal column which they use inch-worm-style for locomotion. They ARE what they eat.

The brain-creatures break the atomic reactor's control rods so people can't shut it down (the creatures need the radiation to exist). It is curious that screenwriters solve the problem with good old dynamite. Jeff blows up the control room to shut down the reactor. ?? The reactor core was already out of control. Why would less control help?

 

Bottom line? Most of FwoF is a fair horror flick with "mental vampires" and agonizing victims. Things get more interesting when the brain-creatures surround the house. Sure, the movie has its flaws, but is an entertaining 50s sci-fi. 4

 

Allographic Machines Object Without Skin FDM print 2015

Please, DO NOT BLOG, TWEET, TUMBLR, FACEBOOOK or redistribute my photographs in any form, in any media without my written permission. info tox99@hotmail.com

Soviet-Russian postcard. Lyudmila Gurchenko and Yuriy Nikulin in the Russian WWII drama Dvadtsat' dney bez voyny/ Twenty Days Without War (Aleksej German, 1977). Postcard issued in 1982.

 

Lyudmila Markovna Gurchenko (born Gurchenkov) (Russian: Людмила Марковна Гурченко, informal – Lucia, 12 November 1935 – 30 March 2011), was a popular Soviet and Russian actress, singer and entertainer. A celebrity after her film debut Carnival Night, she next her downfall because of bad reputation, but after years of modest roles she had her comeback with Siberiade and Station for Two. She became People's Artist of the USSR in 1983, thanks to the succes of films like these.

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.

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I had a dream – last night – I saw your face – all dark and golden – elusive, fleeting – reminiscent of an imperishable longing – enclosed in my speechlessness.

 

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Behold me, in my chiffon, gauze, and tinsel,

Flitting out of the shadow into the spotlight,

And into the shadow again, without a whisper! –

Firefly's my name, I am evanescent.

 

Firefly's your name. You are evanescent.

But I follow you as remorselessly as darkness,

And shut you in and enclose you, at last, and always,

Till you are lost, – as a voice is lost in silence.

 

Till I am lost, as a voice is lost in silence...

Are you the one who would close so cool about me?

My fire sheds into and through you and beyond you:

How can your fingers hold me? I am elusive.

 

How can my fingers hold you? You are elusive?

Yes, you are flame, but I surround and love you,

Always extend beyond you, cool, eternal,

To take you into my heart's great void of silence.

 

You shut me into your heart's great void of silence. . .

O sweet and soothing end for a life of whirling!

Now I am still, whose life was mazed with motion.

Now I sink into you, for love of sleep.

 

~ Conrad Aiken ~

 

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

City of London Bus Route #205 Bishopsgate St Botolph-without-Bishopsgate Church. 2019 White Ford Transit Custom 340 Trend Auto Diesel 1995 cc Police Van LJ19EGX

Lazurde 2010 l l Full Sessions l l Without Any Logo

Forged without the aid of any modern power tools by David DelaGardelle and Andy Davis, the Sword of Cawood is a historical reproduction of an existing historical sword which was found in the late 19th Century at the River Ouse near Cawood Castle. The Castle was an ancient Lord's stronghold in North Yorkshire.

Throughout history much has been unknown about the original sword and its owner. It is extremely unique in the sense that it is a sword on the cusp of two eras. On the one hand it follows the traditional Viking age sword style with its lobed shaped pommel and short stout grip. But on the other hand it has a distinctly medieval crossbar with its wide curved shape. The original sword also carries inscriptions that run down the blades fuller and is made up of a number of capital letters which do not form any known words. On one side they are in Roman script and on the other they are in Lombardic script. It is believed that these letters stood for words which in turn represented a phrase or saying that possibly held great spiritual power of sorts to the swords owner. Many historians speculate that each letter in combination may refer to a verse out of the book of Psalms or some other verse out of the Old Testament of Scripture.

Because so much is still unknown about the original sword it holds a great mythic and legendary quality among the people of its homeland in Yorkshire and far beyond to this day.

This reproduction of the Cawood sword crafted by us at the Mad Dwarf Workshop was a project undertaken with the serious aim of producing it as authentically and traditionally as possible. While we by no means were able to use the exact historical tools the ancient smiths would have used on the original, we still aimed to craft it as authentically as possible, avoiding modern tools at any cost.

 

The exact measurements and specifications that we used to make sure this sword was as accurate as possible were kindly provided by New Zealand swordsmith Peter Lyons, who has handled the original sword and documented its specs.

 

Stats:

OAL: 37"

Blade Length: 32"

 

Point of Balance: 7 1/2" from guard

 

Wood type: figured antique & reclaimed walnut.

 

Guard and Pommel: 200+ year old wrought iron from an anchor chain out of England.

 

Steel type: 200+ year old wagon spring steel, 150+ year old steel from an antique English saw blade, and high carbon 1085.

(all steels were tested by hardening and tempering to see if they met standards for a sword blade prior to use)

   

To see more please visit our website at:

maddwarfworkshop.com/

© sergione infuso - all rights reserved

follow me on www.sergione.info

 

You may not modify, publish or use any files on

this page without written permission and consent.

 

-----------------------------

 

La quinta edizione del festival organizzato da Wired Italia. Due lunghi fine settimana in cui vivere l’innovazione nell’economia, nella scienza, nella politica, nell’intrattenimento, nella cultura. Milano e Firenze si trasformano per un fine settimana nel luna park della scienza e della tecnologia. Oltre 150 relatori, performance artistiche, laboratori di stampa 3D, droni in volo, videogame, film, documentari, speed date sul lavoro, maratone di coding e workshop per tutte le età. A Milano da venerdì 26 a domenica 28 maggio ai Giardini Indro Montanelli.

 

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ore 10:00

Come si combatte l’Isis (sui social)

Speaker

Abdalaziz Alhamza - Fondatore Raqqa is Being Slaughtered Silently

 

Abdalaziz Alhamza, nato a Raqqa nel 1991, è un giornalista e attivista siriano, che oggi vive a Berlino. È fondatore e portavoce del progetto Raqqa is Being Slaughtered Silently (RBSS), gruppo di citizen journalism fondato dall’esilio in Turchia, che informa sulle violenze compiute da Isis in Siria, grazie alle informazioni passate da cittadini rimasti all’interno della città. Nel gennaio 2016 l’International Business Times ha descritto RBSS come “la più credibile fonte di informazioni dall’interno di Raqqa”.

 

Alhamza è laureato in biologia e da studente ha organizzato numerose proteste contro il governo siriano. È stato arrestato varie volte dal regime e più volte ha ricevuto minacce per la sua attività da Isis. RBSS ha vinto nel 2015 l’International Press Freedom Award dal Committee to Protect Journalists e il premio del Foreign Policy Global Thinkers Award.

 

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ore 10:30

Tra calcio e futuro

Speaker

Diletta Leotta - Conduttrice Sky Sport

 

Giulia Diletta Leotta, 1991, è conduttrice a Sky Sport. Si è laureata in Giurisprudenza alla LUISS di Roma con una tesi dal titolo Il contratto di lavoro sportivo. Ha iniziato la sua carriera televisiva nel 2010, a diciannove anni, sulla rete locale Antenna Sicilia, affiancando Salvo La Rosa nella conduzione dell’11º Festival della nuova canzone siciliana e nel programma di intrattenimento Insieme. L’anno successivo è passata a Mediaset dove ha condotto la trasmissione Il Compleanno di La5 sull’omonima rete digitale. Nel 2012 diventa una delle conduttrici di Sky Meteo 24.

 

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ore 12:30

Serie internazionale

Speaker

Salvatore Esposito - Attore

 

Salvatore Esposito nasce a Napoli il 2 febbraio 1986. Sin da bambino nutre la passione per la recitazione. Raggiunta la maggiore età inizia i suoi studi di recitazione presso la Scuola di cinema di Napoli per poi trasferirsi a Roma dove studia con l’acting trainer Beatrice Bracco.

 

Ha fatto il suo esordio televisivo nel 2013 con Il clan dei camorristi, interpretando il ruolo di Domenico Ruggiero. Nel 2014 arriva il successo al grande pubblico con Gomorra – la serie, Salvatore interpreta Genny Savastano.

 

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ore 13:00

Lavoro e ricchezza nell’epoca dell’ Intelligenza Artificiale

Speaker

Jerry Kaplan - Esperto di Intelligenza Artificiale e Imprenditore

 

Jerry Kaplan è un esperto di Intelligenza Artificiale noto in tutto il mondo, un innovatore, seriael entrepreneur, educatore, futurista e autore di best sellers. Ha fondato quattro startup della Silicon Valley, due delle quali sono divenute società di fama, e insegnato alla Stanford University. Hanno parlato di lui tutti i principali quotidiani in lingua inglese e le riviste specializzate di tutto il mondo

 

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ore 14:00

La strada della musica

Speaker

Michele Bravi - Cantante

 

Michele Bravi esordisce nel 2013 con la vittoria di XFactor Italia.

Portato alla vittoria da Morgan e presentato al grande pubblico con un pezzo scritto per lui da Tiziano Ferro e Zibba, Michele pubblica il suo EP di debutto “La Vita e la Felicità”. A Gennaio 2014 il primo singolo “La Vita e la Felicità” viene certificato disco d’oro.

 

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ore 14:30

Il tocco vincente

Speaker

Mara Maionchi - Produttrice discografica

 

Mara Maionchi (Bologna, 22 aprile 1941) è una produttrice discografica e personaggio televisivo italiano.

Attualmente considerata la figura femminile di maggiore spicco nella discografia italiana, producendo sia per conto di major come Sony e Warner che come produttrice indipendente attraverso la sua etichetta, sostenendo tuttavia in numerose dichiarazioni che la vera scena musicale – intensa e multisfaccettata – è all’estero e che in Italia “si fa quel che si può”.

 

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ore 15:00

Maniaca di SerieTV

Speaker

Miriam Leone - Attrice

 

Nasce a Catania. Ha frequentato il Liceo Classico Gulli e Pennisi ad Acireale e la Facoltà di Lettere e Filosofia dell’Università degli Studi di Catania. Studia contemporaneamente recitazione. Nel 2008 partecipa e vince sia la fascia di Miss Italia che quella di Miss Cinema.

 

Nel 2010 debutta come attrice sia sul grande schermo con il film Genitori & figli – Agitare bene prima dell’uso, di Giovanni Veronesi, con Silvia Orlando e Margherita Buy, sia sul piccolo schermo con il film TV Il ritmo della vita, diretto da Rossella Izzo e trasmesso su Canale 5.

 

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ore 15:30

Indie a chi?

Speaker

Lo Stato Sociale - Musicisti

 

Nel 2012 esce il loro primo album, Turisti della democrazia, al quale fa seguito un tour di 200 concerti in Italia ed in Europa. Nel 2013, ad un anno dalla prima pubblicazione, Turisti della democrazia viene ripubblicato in edizione deluxe, in formato doppio CD. Il primo CD presenta la tracklist originale mentre il secondo CD comprende tutti gli 11 brani del disco originale coverizzati da 11 artisti, oltre a tanti remix e inediti. Alla ripubblicazione dell’album, segue un lungo tour dello spettacolo di teatro-canzone Tronisti della democrazia, nel quale le canzoni dell’album d’esordio sono alternate a monologhi e sketch a formare “un minicorso in 5 atti di buone maniere”. Con Turisti della democrazia, tra i più discussi album usciti in ambito indie rock in Italia, la band bolognese ha ricevuto la Targa Giovani Mei e il Premio SIAE “Miglior Giovane Talento dell’Anno” e altri riconoscimenti.

 

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ore 16:00

L’uomo che ha dato forma al pc

Speaker

Mario Bellini - Architetto

 

Mario Bellini è un architetto e designer noto in tutto il mondo. Ha ricevuto il Premio Compasso d’Oro otto volte e 25 delle sue opere sono nella collezione permanente del MoMA di New York, che gli ha dedicato una retrospettiva nel 1987. È stato direttore della rivista Domus (1985-1991). Ha progettato numerose mostre d’arte e di architettura sia in Italia, sia all’estero, l’ultima a Palazzo Reale con i capolavori di Giotto (2015).

 

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ore 16:00

C’è risata e risata

Speaker

Saverio Raimondo - Stand Up Comedian e conduttore CCN

 

Saverio Raimondo, 33 anni, comico satirico, è stato definito sulle pagine di Repubblica “l’unico stand up comedian italiano che sembra vero” e “il comico più bravo in circolazione” da Aldo Grasso del Corriere della Sera. È il comico di punta di Comedy Central Italia (canale 124 di Sky) per il suo show CCN – Comedy Central News, striscia satirica di grande successo di pubblico e critica, giunta alla terza stagione – attualmente in corso, in onda tutti i mercoledì alle 22 – e per la quale ha vinto il Premio Satira Politica per la Tv Forte Dei Marmi.

 

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ore 16:30

Il suono dal caos

Speaker

Levante - Musicista

 

Levante nasce a Caltagirone e cresce a Palagonia (Catania) in una famiglia affollata da menti creative. A nove anni scrive le prime canzoni e soltanto ad undici inizia a suonare la chitarra, rubandola al fratello, per la pura esigenza di musicare i propri testi. Dopo la morte del padre, lei e la madre si trasferiscono nella magica città di Torino. Qui tante sono le collaborazioni, i contratti andati male, i dischi mai usciti e gli anni di manifestazioni musicali, provini e gavetta.

 

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ore 17:00

Non è bello ciò che è bello, ma che bello che bello che bello

Speaker

Maccio Capatonda - Attore e Regista

Nino Frassica - Comico e Presentatore

 

Maccio Capatonda, pseudonimo di Marcello Macchia, è un attore, regista e comico italiano. Ha partecipato ai programmi televisivi Mai dire Lunedì e Mai dire Martedì. Precedentemente aveva fondato a Milano la Shortcut Productions, insieme a Enrico Venti, suo storico amico, anche lui di Chieti. Ha lavorato per AllMusic e lavora stabilmente sul web, affianco all’attività televisiva. Nel 2013 è ideatore, regista e interprete principale della serie televisiva Mario. In un primo tempo si è dedicato (accompagnato dal suo inseparabile gruppo) alla produzione di finti reality televisivi, come il Divano Scomodo e il Gabinetto.

 

Nel 1985 Arbore coinvolge Nino Frassica nel varietà “Quelli della notte” nei panni di frate Antonino da Scasazza, organizzatore di un improbabile concorso a premi. Seguono “Indietro tutta” dove veste i panni del bravo presentatore e mette in scena una spassosa parodia del tipico conduttore televisivo. Partecipa successivamente a “Fantastico”, “Domenica In”, “Scommettiamo che…?”, “I Cervelloni”, “Acqua calda”, “Colorado Cafè” e “Markette” condotto da Piero Chiambretti. Nel 1999 inizia l’avventura della fiction televisiva “Don Matteo” con Terence Hill, Flavio Insinna e successivamente Simone Montedoro, giunta ormai alla decima serie. Nino interpreta il ruolo del maresciallo dei Carabinieri Nino Cecchini.

 

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ore 17:30

Comicità all’italiana

Speaker

Herbert Ballerina - Attore e Comico

Maccio Capatonda - Attore e Regista

 

Herbert Ballerina, pseudonimo di Luigi Luciano, nato a Campobasso il 7 marzo 1980, è un attore, comico, conduttore radiofonico e produttore cinematografico italiano. Dopo essersi laureato al DAMS di Bologna si trasferisce a Milano entrando a far parte della Shortcut Productions di Marcello Macchia ed Enrico Venti (in arte Maccio Capatonda e Ivo Avido), inizialmente come assistente e poi come attore e autore. Con Marcello Macchia è protagonista, con lo pseudonimo di Herbert Ballerina, di numerosi trailer umoristici trasmessi all’interno dei programmi televisivi Mai dire Lunedì e Mai dire Martedì.

 

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ore 18:00

La democrazia della rete

Speaker

Luigi Di Maio - Vicepresidente della Camera

 

Nato a Avellino il 6 luglio 1986, ha conseguito il diploma di liceo classico ed è giornalista pubblicista. Eletto nella circoscrizione XIX (CAMPANIA 1) nel 2013 alla Camera dei Deputati con il Movimento Cinque Stelle, diventa il più giovane Vicepresidente della Camera. È uno dei volti di punta del Movimento Cinque Stelle, per molti naturale candidato alle prossime elezioni.

 

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ore 18:30

Non smetto più

Speaker

Sydney Sibilia - Regista, Sceneggiatore e Produttore cinematografico

Luigi Di Capua - Regista, sceneggiatore e attore

Francesca Manieri - Sceneggiatrice

 

Sydney Sibilia, nato a Salerno nel 1981, è un regista, sceneggiatore e produttore cinematografico italiano. Sydney Sibilia inizia a realizzare cortometraggi insieme all’amico Fabio Ferro nella loro natìa Salerno. Nel 2007 si trasferisce a Roma e successivamente realizza un cortometraggio che ottiene numerosi riconoscimenti, Oggi gira così (2010), prodotto dalla Ascent Film e scritto insieme a Valerio Attanasio.

Sempre con Valerio Attanasio, scrive la sceneggiatura della sua opera prima Smetto quando voglio. Il film, prodotto dalla Fandango di Domenico Procacci, dalla Ascent FIlm di Matteo Rovere e da Rai Cinema, viene distribuito nelle sale cinematografiche nel febbraio 2014, riscuotendo un successo sorprendente e ottenendo 12 candidature ai David di Donatello 2014. Nel 2017 è nelle sale il seguito, Smetto quando voglio – Masterclass, in attesa del terzo episodio.

 

Regista, sceneggiatore e attore. Insieme a Matteo Corradini e Luca Vecchi è il fondatore del collettivo The Pills, nato nell’estate del 2011. Il collettivo è diventato celebre grazie alla web serie omonima che ha debuttato su YouTube nello stesso anno, diventando immediatamente fenomeno del web. Dopo il successo ottenuto anche con la seconda stagione, nel 2014 la serie approda su Italia 1. Nello stesso anno, The Pills sono autori insieme a Matteo Rovere, Luca Ravenna, Sydney Sibilia e Daniele Grassetti della serie tv Zio Gianni in onda su Rai2. Il 21 gennaio 2016 esce nelle sale il loro primo film, The Pills – Sempre meglio che lavorare.

 

Sceneggiatrice tra le più apprezzate in Italia, è laureata in filosofia.

Tra i suoi lavori: Zanzibar. Una storia daAmore, di cui ha curato anche la regia, Passione sinistra, Il rosso e il blu, La foresta di ghiaccio, Vergine giurata, Veloce come il vento, Nemiche per la pelle, il corto Era ieri, Come fai sbagli e il successo Smetto quando voglio.

 

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ore 19:00

L’identità della bellezza

Speaker

Samuel - Cantante e Musicista

 

Samuel Umberto Romano, conosciuto semplicemente come Samuel (Torino, 7 marzo 1972), è un cantautore e chitarrista italiano. È il frontman del gruppo dei Subsonica, in cui è anche compositore e autore dei testi delle canzoni insieme a Max Casacci e Davide Dileo, meglio conosciuto come Boosta.

 

Nel 2016 ha annunciato attraverso le proprie pagine Facebook e Instagram di essere al lavoro sul suo primo album da solista, anticipato il 9 settembre 2016 dal suo primo singolo da solista, La risposta, seguito tre mesi dopo da Rabbia.

Poland after tragic death of its President Lech Kaczynski, who died in a plane crash in Smolensk, Russia, on 10th April 2010.

 

© Mieszko Stanislawski / Babel Images

www.babelimages.com

the teleidoscope 2012 theme #3 - movie star

 

1 - the concept

movie star - a star who plays leading roles in the cinema

I figured the best way to show i was the star was showing the movie poster. And since i'm coming up with the movie why not surround myself with some of my favorites :-D

 

2- the poster

i started with the idea to go for a Drew Struzan look, since i got back to drawing regularly but i soon figured out that: a) it would take me lot's of time to get the look right b)my painting would be slow and messy. So move on to the next best thing: a photomontage and inspired by Tim Bradstreet's work , i took the composition directly from one of his Hellblazer comic covers. I decided to pay him tribute and his gritty style, fitting of the tone of the movie :-)

 

3- the movie

named "the hanged man" as in the tarot card. in the Tarot deck symbolism "the hanged man" is not a victim - he has gone to his fate happily and smiles out at us. He is serene and content - it is his tormentors who will ultimately suffer. And that's the concept of the movie; it's a revenge story, the bloody kind that Tarantino's good at. Lots of guns, martial arts and public space destruction.

 

Story by Helder Silva - Screenplay and dialogues by Quentin Tarantino - Music by Hans Zimmer and Trent Reznor (yeah i know tarantino likes to choose his oldies but this would work) - Action Choreography by Jackie Chan Stunt Team - Produced by Helder Silva - Directed by Quentin Tarantino

  

and i would love this in the soundtrack: nine inch nails - gave up

...without light, air conditioning, cozy red velvet sofa, dvd, pc, microwave, internet, washing machine, espresso machine. Incredible but it is true, all the enviroment is completely organic, that is soil, rocks, trees, water, plants and animals. Could we manage nowdays without all so called "civilized items"? Someone was there on Christmas eve with his dreams and hopes a long time ago.

 

Wishing you all my dear friends Happy Christmas!

 

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La sigla Mercedes-Benz W121 identifica il modello 190SL, una roadster di fascia medio-alta prodotta dal 1955 al 1963 dalla Casa automobilistica tedesca Mercedes-Benz. La 300 SL "Ali di gabbiano" all'epoca della sua messa in vendita, nonostante fosse una autovettura desiderata era troppo costosa per la maggior parte dei suoi ammiratori. L'importatore ufficiale della Mercedes-Benz negli Stati Uniti, Max Hoffman, che nel 1952 aveva premuto affinché la Casa di Stoccarda producesse in serie la 300SL, si rese conto di ciò, così pure la stessa Casa madre. Se ne resero conto ancor prima che la stessa 300SL fosse lanciata sul mercato. Pertanto Hoffmann sollecitò i vertici Daimler-Benz a progettare e realizzare autovettura che mantenesse il carattere sportivo della 300 SL, ma meno spinta e di media cilindrata, insomma più accessibile per un pubblico più ampio e con carrozzeria aperta. Queste furono le premesse che motivarono la progettazione e la produzione della 190 SL che beneficiò anche, come nuova nata, di alcune innovazioni già introdotte nelle berline 180. La Mercedes-Benz, al momento della nascita della 190 SL contava 46.226 dipendenti e produceva 63.683 veicoli all'anno con una automazione, nel 1956, del 67% degli impianti produttivi; era quindi impegnata in uno sforzo di rinnovamento e di crescita. Uno degli imperativi era quello di risparmiare sui costi di produzione e quindi di avvalersi delle risorse disponibili. Venne scelto quindi il pianale della 180 W120, paciosa berlina da poco in listino, il più economico tra i pianali disponibili. Tale pianale venne debitamente rinforzato ed irrigidito dal tunnel centrale e da vari elementi scatolati longitudinalmente e trasversali, e ne venne anche ridotto il passo, sceso da 2.65 a 2.4 m. Nuovo fu invece il motore, un 4 cilindri in linea da 1.9 litri di cilindrata con distribuzione monoalbero in testa, denominato M121 ed in grado di erogare fino a 105 CV di potenza massima. Tale motore era derivato dal 3 litri utilizzato per la 300SL, del quale mantiene alcune caratteristiche. Non aveva una potenza molto elevata, poiché il gruppo motore - cambio, fissato su di un telaio ausiliario, era ancorato su tre punti ammortizzati da grossi tamponi in gomma. Si otteneva così un sistema indipendente e isolato acusticamente dalla scocca. Era una scelta per privilegiare il comfort di marcia e indicava chiaramente la volontà, da parte dei progettisti, di produrre una vettura da turismo sportivo, che permettesse di percorrere le rilevanti distanze su strada abbastanza velocemente, ma senza eccessiva fatica per il pilota e passeggero; questa impostazione andava però a scapito della sportività, cioè della possibilità di prevedere esattamente il comportamento del veicolo in condizioni estreme sotto la spinta di un propulsore molto potente (i tamponi di gomma deformandosi elasticamente infatti introducevano dei giochi indesiderati o imprevedibili. Ecco quindi la necessità di dotare la 190 SL di un propulsore non eccessivamente potente e di media cilindrata. Se infatti sul prototipo venne dapprima montato il sei cilindri di 3 litri della 300 poi si votò per il moderno M121 da 1.897 centimetri cubici, leggermente super quadro anziché a corsa lunga, con valvole e albero a camme in testa, e in grado di sopportare regimi elevati. Nel corso del 1961 il motore subì un aggiornamento con particolare riferimento alla conformazione della distribuzione e differenziandosi dal precedente M121 BII con la sigla M121 BIX. Dalla 220a W180 arrivarono le sospensioni a ruote indipendenti con avantreno a quadrilateri e retrotreno a ponte oscillante con articolazione centrale. Molle elicoidali ed ammortizzatori idraulici erano presenti su entrambi gli assi. All'inizio del 1954 sbarcarono a New York due prototipi della nuova Mercedes 190 SL, pronti per essere esposti al Salone dell'Automobile tenutosi a febbraio. Terminata la kermesse, uno di essi proseguì in aereo per Los Angeles. Uno dei due prototipi era in versione Roadster, con un singolo piccolo parabrezza per il guidatore, portiere a profilo ribassato e senza cristalli. L'altro prototipo era invece una vera e propria roadster, prefigurante quasi del tutto il modello definitivo. Entrambi i prototipi erano caratterizzati da una presa aria sul cofano. Ma Max Hoffmann chiese che la linea fosse ritoccata ulteriormente affinché la vettura somigliasse maggiormente alla più grande ed esclusiva 300SL. Le nuove vetture esposte raccolsero comunque consensi convincendo lo stesso Hoffmann a sollecitarne la produzione in serie in Germania secondo le specifiche richieste ed impegnandosi ad acquistarne 200 al mese. Le strutture produttive necessarie furono pronte soltanto un anno dopo e nel marzo 1955, la 190SL, fu presentata al salone di Ginevra in veste definitiva, molto diversa dai due prototipi "americani". Era di linea più signorile e meno aggressiva, il cofano era meno spiovente sulla calandra, il paraurti anteriore era più avvolgente e non era diviso in due parti, i caratteristici baffi spuntarono anche sui passaruota posteriori (l'anno prima a New York erano assenti) e sparì anche la presa d'aria sul cofano. Inoltre la leva del cambio, prima al volante, venne posizionata sul pavimento. In maggio la produzione era finalmente avviata. Nei primi mesi di commercializzazione, la 190SL fu proposta unicamente come roadster, ma al Salone di Francoforte di quello stesso 1955, l'offerta si ampliò con l'arrivo della coupé, che si distingueva dalla versione aperta per un tettuccio rigido amovibile in sostituzione della capote di tela e per i profili cromati sui baffi. Era anche possibile ottenere il roadster in versione alleggerita, una trasformazione sportiva simile al prototipo Roadster originario, con porte in alluminio, lunetta di plexiglas sul parabrezza e senza cristalli laterali (di questa versione vennero prodotti 17 esemplari). In realtà le portiere in alluminio andarono poi ad equipaggiare tutte le versioni di normale produzione. Il prezzo attorno ai 16.500 marchi contro i 29 000 della 300 SL era abbastanza alto; infatti in Italia una prestigiosa Ferrari 250 Gran Turismo, più vicina alla 300SL per fascia di mercato, costava solo il 37% in più mentre vetture paragonabili alla 190SL, come la Lancia Aurelia B24 o l'Alfa Romeo 1900 Super Sprint costavano il 25% in meno. Ciononostante, la 190SL ottenne un buon successo. Le prestazioni non erano da vera sportiva, basti pensare che la velocità massima era di 171 km/h, poco brillanti anche all'epoca per un'auto da turismo come la 190SL, ma la vettura seppe comunque conquistare il cuore di molti clienti. Poche furono le modifiche apportate alla 190SL nel corso della sua carriera: nel 1956 vi furono luci posteriori maggiorate e servofreno, oltre ad aggiornamenti di dettaglio. L'hard-top, optional prima realizzato in lega leggera, ora è in acciaio. Nel 1959 viene ampliato il lunotto posteriore a favore della visibilità in manovra, mentre il motore subisce alcune migliorie. In Europa la produzione della 190SL cessa nella primavera del 1962, mentre prosegue per il mercato statunitense fino al febbraio 1963.

2D Crew from Sao Paulo, pasted as part of street art without borders.

Triathlon. Key Biscayne, FL

XXXII. The Life without Passion

 

THEY that have power to hurt, and will do none,

That do not do the thing they most do show,

Who, moving others, are themselves as stone,

Unmovèd, cold, and to temptation slow,—

 

They rightly do inherit heaven's graces,

And husband nature's riches from expense;

They are the lords and owners of their faces,

Others, but stewards of their excellence.

 

The summer's flower is to the summer sweet,

Though to itself it only live and die;

But if that flower with base infection meet,

The basest weed outbraves his dignity:

 

For sweetest things turn sourest by their deeds;

Lilies that fester smell far worse than weeds.

 

-- W. Shakespeare

It's basically raining new figures here (something only 2020 could make happen), so without further ado, here's the second one, the Figure Complex Wonder Woman figure.

 

The Figure Complex series is part of the Kaiyodo Revoltech series. Since it's inception a few years ago (2017 I think), several DC and Marvel heroes have been featured. The intent of the line is to have stylized figures that look mindblowing when posed dynamically.. and if it looks nice when standing up straight, its a bonus.

 

Of the three females released thus far, I have two of them - Psylocke and Wonder Woman. I liked the Psylocke well enough, with the exception of her overall facial paint work, which due to the pale skin made her look like a blowup doll and some serious thigh gap issues.

 

So how did Diana fare?

 

Wonder Woman is based on the comic art design shown on the inner liner of the box. She comes with what I'd expect a Wonder Woman figure to come with. You get the figure, three total face plates (smiling, neutral, shouting), uncoiled Lasso of Truth, bullet deflect effects for each arm, energy blast blocking effect for each arm, her cape, an extra neck piece for use with the cape, her shield, her sword. six additional hands for weapon holding and posing, and a stand. Retail price on this was 8,250 Yen as compared to Psylocke at 6,458 Yen back in 2018.

 

Of the three portraits, the neutral one was my favourite. The other two had their share of strengths and issues.

 

Compared to the proto photographs, the final product seemed to be intact, with the only real change I could tell was that the various metallic paints were not as reflective.

 

A quick comparison between Psylocke and Wonder Woman shows that Kaiyodo addressed the issue of the thigh gaps, which were horrible on Psylocke. Wonder Woman is also a bit larger and much more complex looking than Psylocke, which partially explains the price jump.

 

On a side note, the hair, which was great on Psylocke, is equally well done on Wonder Woman.

 

Details on her outfit seem a bit soft to my eyes. I'm not sure if that's an issue with the plastic, or the actual sculpt, but I've seen finer details and more prominent line work on the various Gal Gadot Wonder Woman figures in my collection.

 

From a static posing perspective, the only real sore points would be the shoulders and the neck. It all ties back to the articulation for this figure.

 

The long neck, when the head is seated properly, isn't really an issue, and becomes even less of an issue when she's wearing her cape. The reason she has such a long neck is because there is a joint at the base of her head that allows the figure to almost fully tilt the head straight up, very useful when you're posing a flying character or any pose where the head goes first.

 

The shoulders can be an eyesore. Effectively her shoulders can be dislocated from her body to reveal the double ended Revolver joint beneath. The trade off, however, is that you have incredible range of motion, with this figure probably having the easiest time pulling off Wonder Woman's trademark Bracer pose.

 

Other points of articulation on the body include toe, ankles, double jointed knees, thigh twist, hips, waist, mid torso, double jointed shoulders, single jointed elbows, wrist, neck head, and hair.

 

One additional feature that you don't see very often on figures of this size are that the eyeballs can be pointed in whatever direction you want, further completing any dynamic poses you're working on.

 

Paint work has never really been the strongest point of these figures. Having said that, the quality of the work on Wonder Woman is definitely better than on Psylocke. Base paints are smooth. Despite having more masking required, the overall figure appears to be crisper looking than Psylocke, though not as crisp as on other Japanese figures.

 

To me, it appears the paint app on the lips of the neutral and smiling sculpts are sharper than on Psylocke, which combined with an actual complexion results in a superior effect, though her skin remains plain plastic only.. The shouting face... well lets say open mouths often result in mixed results, and this is no exception.

 

Build quality is something that has not been an issue ever since these Figure Complex releases became the Revoltechs I handle. No issues with limb sizes, weak joints, or my biggest nuisance, getting the damn limbs to line up because the "clicks" of the Revolver joints were out sync. Everything flows smoothly, and QC is not an issue with regards to things falling apart, or not coming together as it should.

 

Finish on the plastic pretty good.. you'll find the odd rough spot here and there (most notable on the edges of things) and some visible seamlines.

 

That pretty much sums up the experience. Not being a movie figure, it doesn't have to live up to looking like Gal Gadot. Does it look like the comic art? For the most part yes, just not the sculpt, but these sort of things happen all the time when dealing with comic art.

 

Does she have the bells and whistles? Yes, yes she does. I particularly enjoy the Lasso of Truth being a vibrant yellow rope.

 

Can you live with the joints and proportions? That's ultimately what you have to ask yourself. For me, there are many other decent looking Wonder Woman figures that can hold some pretty good posing, but I always want that ONE figure, aesthetics be damned, that can pull off crazy poses.

 

And that figure of Wonder Woman, without a doubt, is this one.

 

So if you're pose crazy, I'd suggest you give this one a try. At the very least, you'll have a figure where you can make Wonder Woman do the Ahegao face.

Segni RM Italy

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.

Without signatures.

Initials and small capitals supplied in red, blue or green. Initial strokes supplied in red. Manuscript marginalia, slightly cropped.

Rubricator's date of 1474 on last leaf of text.

Edited by Giovanni Andrea, bp. of Aleria.

This copy differs from Hain description; f. 3a, line 2 "... Plynivs ..." (Hain "... Plinivs ...")

From the collection of Thomas Machen.

Contemporary binding with stamped pigskin back on boards composed of leaves from a book. Boxed.

“We cannot expect more from Europe without giving more to Europe”, he said, backing Parliament’s position on the multi-annual financial framework (MFF). “Portugal is ready to increase its contribution” to the budget, he told MEPs.

 

Read our press release here:

www.europarl.europa.eu/news/en/press-room/20180309IPR99429

 

This photo is free to use under Creative Commons licenses and must be credited: "© European Union 2018 - European Parliament".

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For bigger HR files please contact: webcom-flickr(AT)europarl.europa.eu

 

Without a doubt, our favorite location we visited in Iceland was Jökulsárlón. This was unlike any place we had ever seen. We visited this spot no less than 4 times while we were in the area. We can't wait to go back.

 

Our second stop at Jökulsárlón had a deep and rich mood created by the dark clouds looming over the coming sunset.

 

Here, I used Lee Filters to properly balance the dynamic range of the sky and the lagoon.

 

From Wikipedia:

Jökulsárlón (translated "glacial river lagoon") is a large glacial lake in southeast Iceland, on the borders of Vatnajökull National Park. Situated at the head of Breiðamerkurjökull, it developed into a lake after the glacier started receding from the edge of the Atlantic Ocean. The lake has grown since then at varying rates because of melting of the Icelandic glaciers. The lake now stands 1.5 kilometres (0.93 mi) away from the ocean's edge and covers an area of about 18 km2 (6.9 sq mi). It recently became the deepest lake in Iceland at over 248 metres (814 ft) depth as glacial retreat extended its boundaries. The size of the lake has increased fourfold since the 1970s. It is considered as one of the natural wonders of Iceland.

 

The icebergs that calve from the glacier edge move towards the river mouth and get entrenched at the bottom. While floating, only about one tenth mass of an iceberg is seen above the water surface. The movement of the icebergs fluctuates with the tide currents. However, they start floating as icebergs when their size is small enough to drift to the sea. These icebergs are seen in two shades, one type in milky white, while the other type is in bright blue colour, which is an interplay of light and ice crystals.

  

Nikon D800

24-120mm f/4 Lens

Lee Filters 0.9 and 0.6 GND Hard Edge Resin Filters

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Along with Hinxhill, Thanington were the two longest term targets for photographing.

 

I first went to Thanington at none on Heritage Day, hoping it would be open. It was locked, but a sign indicated it would be open later.

 

Thing about Heritage Day is to minimise travel time, but to get to Hinxhill and Thanington, there was no choice that to have a 45 minute drive from Upchurch.

 

With Hinxhill being open and already in the bag, I arrived at Thanington, able to park outside thanks to the road having been resurfaced and the double yellow lines not having yet being painted.

 

Some churches are well worth the wait to see, like Hinxhill, and others are a disappointment. Thanington falls into the latter.

 

Heavily restored in the 19th century, and recently re-ordered, it left me cold. But the volunteer loved her church, and she showed me what was thought to be a carved head portrait on a column.

 

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Thanington is on the main A28, and St Nicholas set beside the road, though hides behind a huge Yew Tree.

 

I have been along this road many times, but the traffic is either too heavy, or too jammed to be able to stop. But one day earlier this month, I tried to see inside.

 

Sadly, it was locked, but then that is the fate of many urban churches, not just in Kent but all over.

 

So another one to add to the list come Heritage and Ride and Stride Weekend in September 2017.

 

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Low beside the road to Canterbury and outside (without) its walls, St Nicholas is a church that has seen many changes. An odd plan of nave with north tower, chancel and south nave chapel, it is built of local flints. Yew trees, the largest of which has an enormous round seat encompassing it, dominate the exterior. Inside the church has been recently re-ordered and the stone floor replaced by one of solid wood - a vast improvement. The pulpit and most of the nineteenth century stonework is by William Butterfield. In the nave are two gothic tablets to the Cooper family but apart from that there are few memorials to be seen. The east window of the south chapel has a fine piece of 20th century glass of The Good Shepherd contrasting with the earlier Mary and Elizabeth in its south windows. The plain arch into the tower shows the difference between medieval and later stonework and now leads to the church room added further down the slope and completely invisible from the south side of the church. The piscina is a wonderful piece of Victorian inventiveness with scrolly end stops and lobed inner arch whilst set into a recess in the east wall is a fascinating statue of St Nicholas the patron saint, with two children at his feet looking just as if they had stepped out of an Enid Blyton book! Delightful if somewhat bizarre.

 

www.kentchurches.info/church.asp?p=Thanington+Without

 

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HANINGTON lies about a mile from Canterbury, near the suburbs of Wincheap, part of the street of which, as well as St. Jacob's hospital at the entrance of it, are within the bounds of it; the river Stour runs through it, on the southern side is the church and courtlodge, beyond which and the Ashford road the hill rises on a poor flinty soil, among the coppice woods, as far as Iffens wood, a small part of which is within it. On the Ashford road stands the manor-house of Cockering, formerly possessed by a family of the same name, it has for some length of time belonged to the Honywoods, of Markshall, in Essex, and does now to Filmer Honywood, esq. of Marks-hall. A small distance higher on the hills, is New-house, formerly belonging to the Roberts's, of Harbledown, and thence by marriage to Robert Mead Wilmot, esq. who sold it to Sir Thomas Pym Hales, bart. as he did to Geo. Gipps, esq. the present owner of it. Between the above road and the church there are some very rich hop grounds. On the opposite, or northern side of the river, over which there is here a long wooden bridge for foot passengers only, and a ford, there is a large tract of meadows, and at the edge of them the manor and borough of Toniford. The ruins of the west front of the antient castellated mansion of it still remain, having four circular towers at equal distances, built of flint and ashlar stone. The gateway leading to it is still left, and the moat round it, very broad and deep, is still visible. Adjoining to the ruins is the modern house, built on the scite of the old one. The Kingsfords were for some generations resident here, as tenants of this estate. Above this the hill rises among much poor rough land. towards the woods.

 

THIS PLACE was antiently held of the archbishop, as part of his hundred and manor of Westgate, and in the reign of the Conqueror, as appears by domesday, it was held by Gosfridus Dapifer. (fn. 1) Some time after which THE MANOR OF THANINGTON appears to have been held by the eminent families of Valoyns and Septvans, of the archbishop; but in the next reign of king Richard II. it was held by Sir William Waleys, whose only daughter and heir Elizabeth carried it in marriage to Peter Halle, esq. of Herne, whose grandson Thomas died anno 1 Henry VII. unmarried, and was buried in Thanington church; upon which this manor came to his sister Joane, whose husband Thomas Atkins, in her right, became entitled to it. His son William Atkins, about the 17th year of king Henry VIII. alienated it, by fine and recovery, to John Hales, esq. of the Dungeon, in Canterbury, a baron of the exchequer, whose second son Thomas Hales, esq. by his fa ther's will, became possessed of this manor, where he afterwards resided. During which time his eldest brother Sir James Hales, late a justice of the common pleas, having been dismissed from his office on queen Mary's accession, retired to his nephew's seat here, where, in a fit of despondency, he drowned himself in the river near it, in 1555. (fn. 2) Thomas Hales died in 1583. His son Sir Charles Hales likewise resided here till he removed to Howlets, in Bekesborne, where his posterity remained till within these few years. At length his descendant Sir Philip Hales, bart. in 1775, passed it away by sale to George Gipps, esq. of Harbledowne, who is the present owner of it. A court baron is held for this manor.

 

TONIFORD, usually called Tunford, is a manor, situated within the borough of its own name, near the western bounds of this parish, and on that side of the river Stour next to Harbledowne. It was in early times both the property and residence of a family, who took their name from it, and bore for their arms, Gules, on a cross, argent, three fleurs de lis, sable. John de Toniford was possessed of it in the latter end of king Henry III.'s reign, and was a good benefactor to the hospital of Harbledowne. And his descendant, John de Toniford, resided here in king Edward III.'s reign, at the latter end of which he alienated it to Sir Thomas Fogge, whose son, of the same name, resided here, and died possessed of it anno 9 Henry IV. and was buried in the cathedral of Canterbury. From this family it afterwards passed into that of Browne, of Beechworth-castle, and in the 27th year of Henry VI. Sir Thomas Browne, of that place, comptroller and treasurer of the king's houshold, obtained a grant of liberty to embattle and impark, and to have free warren, &c. within this manor, among others. One of his descendants sold it to Colepeper, who again passed it away to Vane, from which name it was sold, in king Charles I.'s reign, to Capt. Thomas Collins, of Sittingborne, afterwards of Brightling, in Sussex, whose arms were Gules, on a bend, or, three martlets azure, within a bordure, ermine. In whose descendants it continued down to Mr. Henry Collins, of Chichester, who died possessed of it in king George II.'s reign, after whose death, it came to Thomas Lucksford, esq. of Chichester, whose widow Mrs. Hannah Lucksford dying in 1794, it came by devise at her decease, to William Wills, esq. of Ulcombe, who is the present possessor of it.

 

ST. JACOB'S, alias ST. JAMES'S HOSPITAL, which was situated at the further end of Wincheap-street, just without the bounds of the city of Canterbury, which extends close to the walls of it, was founded for leprous women, before the reign of king John. For in archbishop Hubert's time, who died in the 7th year of that reign, the prior and convent of Christ-church, in Canterbury, took this hospital into their custody and protection, and engaged themselves, that they would maintain three priests and one clerk for the service of religion, and twenty-five leprous women in this house, and supply them both, with all necessary provisions out of the profits of the church of Bredgar, and the other possessions of it, which church or parsonage king Henry III. afterwards confirmed to this hospital, in pure and perpetual alms. The revenues of it were valued anno 26 Henry VIII. at 53l. 16s. IId. in the whole, or 32l. 2s. 1¼d. clear annual income.

 

The members of it were exempted from the payment of tithes for their gardens and cattle; but there was a consideration in money, of eighteen pence per annum, in lieu of tithe, for the scite of the hospital, paid to the parson of Thanington.

 

This hospital escaped the dissolution of such foundations in king Henry VIII.'s reign, and continued till the 5th year of king Edward VI. when it was surren dered into the king's hands. The scite of it is now the property of Mr. Daniel Sankey, of Wincheap street, Canterbury. There are only the stone walls, which inclose an orchard, and the lower part of the front of the house, remaining of the antient buildings of it; the rest of the house, now called the hospital, being of a much more modern date.

 

There are no parochial charities. The poor constantly maintained are about fifteen, casually twenty-five.

 

THANINGTON is within the ECCLESIASTICAL JURISDICTION of the diocese of Canterbury, and deanry of of the same.

 

The church, which is dedicated to St. Nicholas, is but small, consisting of one isle, a high chancel, and another on the south side, having a small pointed turret on the middle of the north side, in which hang three bells. It is an antient building. In the isle is a memorial for Thomas Hale, obt. 15—, rest obliterated, and arms gone. Two memorials for the Kingsfords, of Tonford. In the high chancel is a gravestone, coffinshaped. A stone with the figure of a man in armour, and inscription in brass, for Thomas Halle, esq. obt. 1485; arms, Halle, barry, three escutcheons. Within the altar-rails, a memorial for Anne, wife of Sir Charles Hales, of Canterbury, daughter of Robert Honywood, esq. of Charing, obt. 1617. Another for Sir Charles Hales, obt. 1623, arms, Hales, a crescent for difference. Memorial for Millicent, wife of Henry See, gent. married first to Henry Blechenden, esq. of Aldington; secondly to Jerom Brett, esq. of Leedes; lastly to Thomas Rownyng, gent. obt. 1612. In the south wall is an arch, hollowed in the building, and a tomb underneath. At the end of the south chancel there was formerly an altar; the niche for holy water still remains. In the church-yard, near the south side of the chancel, are the remains of an antient tomb, singularly shaped, having a stone in the shape of a lozenge lying on the base of it. By two grooves in the side and other marks, it seems to have had much more belonging to it.

 

This church was part of the antient possessions of the priory of St. Gregory, founded by archbishop Lanfranc, and was by archbishop Hubert confirmed to it in king Richard I.'s reign. (fn. 3) In the 8th year of king Richard II. this church was become appropriated to that priory, when, on the taxation, it was valued at 11l. 6s. 8d. at which time there was a vicarage here, valued at four pounds, being one of those small benefices in this deanry not taxed to the tenth. After which, both church and advowson, remained part of the possessions of the priory till the dissolution of it in king Henry VIII.'s reign, when it came into the king's hands, and was soon afterwards granted, with the scite and other estates of the priory, in exchange, to the archbishop, part of whose revenues the appropriation of this church continues at this time. George Gipps, esq. of Harbledowne, is the present lessee under the archbishop, of this parsonage, among the other possessions of St. Gregory's priory.

 

In 1774 this parsonage consisted of a part of a messuage, called the vicarage-house, or Cockering-farm, with a stable, and two pieces of land, containing thirteen acres, with the tithes of corn, hay, seeds and pasture, of hops and wood, the church-yard, and a piece of hop-ground. Total value 128l. 10s. procurations to the archdeacon 5s. and to the archbishop at his visitations 6s. The vicarage-house consists of a lower and upper room, being the north-east end of Cockering-house, Mr. Honywood's, and easily distinguished from the rest of it. A like instance of such contiguity, I never have as yet met with.

 

Before the dissolution of the priory this church was served by a vicar; but from that time it has been esteemed only as a perpetual curacy, in the patronage of his grace the archbishop.

 

¶The antient stipend of the curate was eight pounds, but archbishop Juxon increased this stipend, among others, to forty pounds, to be paid by the lessee of the appropriation, at which sum the value of it is now certified. And it has been since further augmented by two hundred pounds from the governors of queen Anne's bounty, and the addition of two hundred pounds more from the same fund, on a distribution from the legacy of Mrs. Ursula Taylor, paid to it by Sir Philip Boteler, bart.

 

In 1588 here were eighty-eight communicants. In 1640 only forty.

 

www.british-history.ac.uk/survey-kent/vol9/pp21-27

Please do not use this image without my prior consent.

 

Morgenthal Frederics PURO Eyeglasses. Lens 39mm (with lens holder) D.B.L. 22mm

 

PURO is a unique, simple design eyeglasses. Titanium frame with acetate lens holder. The Ti frame comes in pewter, polished chrome, gummetal, bronze finish. Lens holder comes in White, Black, Brown, Tortoise and Horn. PURO are sold with or without lens holders with price difference. The acetate piece is not a decoration piece that mount on the Ti frame. The lens actually set in it instead of Ti frame itself. It is very cool looking and no need to worry that they will fell out. PURO is not perfectly round or oval.

 

As pretty as it is, I had THE WORSE experience EVER with PURO. It was purchased at Morgenthal Frederics at 59th Street in Time Warner Center building. Sale was helpful cuz I had intend of buying. At the time, I wasn't sure to go for acetate or not and was told the lens holder can be purchase separately if I change my mind. So I went for the Ti frame only. The frame was around $420 and another $400 for the lens. The $400 lens doesn't include all the coating and 4 times more than what I usually pay for. After owning it for 3 month, I found out that the frame is not perfect round or oval. The imperfect roundness bother my mind greatly. I thought the acetate lens holder would help to notice the frame shape so I thought I'll pay them a visit.

 

I went back to the store I bought it from and told the sales I would like to purchase the lens holder and would nice if they can insert it for me. It was different sales this time and he told me "NO, we don't sell them separately." I told them I was inform so and how can I get a lens holder? "Sir, you have to purchase a brand new frame with it." I told them the idea was ridiculous, cuz if the told me so the first place, I would made different choice. "Sir, we can't help you unless you buy a brand new frame." I left the store ANGRY and thought she don't know what she is talking about, let me went a different store and see what they say. Some one gotta make some sense right?!

 

I went to their store on the 63rd & Madison with the same request. Sales ask me where my frame originally from and call the Time Warner store to confirm. While he was on the phone, he was judging me through his eyes and told me "NO. They said you were just at Time Warner Store and they have told you everything you need to know. I am sorry". I was FURIOUS this time.

 

Still not giving it up, thanks god I got unlimited subway pass. I went to 74th Street & Madison store. I told them I went through 2 stores already if they wanna call and confirm, be my guest. I told them the whole story and what 2 stores were tell me and how I am furious before I enter this store and hoping they can give me a better answer. They respond. "We can give you the lens holder for free, but you have to buy a set of brand lens from us." (which was $400) I asked "why, optician can just re-shape it". They respond, "The lens is too thin, they will break." I told them, "why don't you sell me the lens holder, and I will ask my optician." They say, "sorry, we can't do that. Not unless you buy a set of brand new lens. What an unbelievable bunch of assholes!

 

At last I went to their last store in Manhattan located at W. Broadway in SoHo. I told spoke with the manager, told them the 3 stores responses. I let him decided if anything make any sense. "They might misunderstood with your request. You know what, I'll give the lens holder to you for free. We want our customer to be happy." Took me to go through all stores with anger. All, because their sales misinform their customer.

 

I took the lens holder to Abe, my optician in Chinatown. I ask him if he can reshape my current lens into the lens holder. Took Abe 5 min. and lens set in the holder. "the lens is made of plastic not glass, why they think it will break?" I took the frame back, scratch & Spot less, PERFECT. I ask Abe, "Can you check the lens quality and coating, how much you will charge to match it." Abe check it and responded, "$120, for you, I'll charge $100. This lens doesn't have all the coating you usually have on. $100 you got everything." I ask him if this lens is higher end, thinner, better in any other way? "No, it is the same thing we are using here. It is not better or special." I did not respond. I did not tell Abe about Morgenthal Frederics charge $400 dollars for them with less coating. They absolutely made me feel like a FOOL.

 

Everything above is 100% true. Morgenthal Frederics products no doubt are well made but people working for the company seem too money hungry. I told everyone what you guys have done so they can have 2nd thoughts before buying Morgenthal Frederics products. Morgenthal Frederics sure gave me the worse shopping experience. Now, whenever people search for Morgenthal Frederics online, my review will show up with it. I will NEVER buy another pair from you guys and I hope this review will HURT your company deeply.

 

Customers are the reasons why your company is still standing. Remember it well and treat them good. WORDS do spread. Reputation has to earn it by SERVICE.

This is 'Walkers Court' where it emerges onto Brewer Street. The face street art is by Anna Laurini. The well known, but now closed, strip club 'Raymond Revue Bar' was located behind the hoarding. Feb 2017.

French postcard by Editions Chantal, Rueil, no. 3. Photo: London Film Productions. Publicity still for Knight Without Armour (Jacques Feyder, 1937).

 

Marlene Dietrich (1901-1992) is regarded as the first German actress to become successful in Hollywood. Throughout her long career, she constantly re-invented herself, starting as a cabaret singer, chorus girl and film actress in 1920s Berlin, she became a Hollywood movie star in the 1930s, a World War II frontline entertainer, and finally an international stage show performer from the 1950s to the 1970s, eventually becoming one of the entertainment icons of the 20th century.

 

For more postcards, a bio and clips check out our blog European Film Star Postcards or follow us at Tumblr or Pinterest.

Absolutely no use of TurnAround_2048 photographs without prior written permission.

Member: PBPA

 

Basic Details:

Line: Joanna Jesh Transport Corp.

Fleet No.: 9114-11 stars

License Plate No.: **F-825

Coachbuilder: Santarosa Motorworks, Inc.

Model: EXFOH (Non-air conditioned variant)

Route of operation: FTI Complex, Taguig - Navotas City

Seating configuration/capacity: 3x2 / 58

Location: East Service Road, Taguig

Date: 2015-09-17

 

Engine:

Engine Manufacturer: Nissan Diesel (UD Trucks, Corp.)

Engine Type: FE6B

Number of Cylinders & Arrangement: 6, Inline

Displacement, cc: 6,925

Power Output:

> In bhp: 177.60

> In PS: 180.00

> In kW: 132.40

 

Chassis:

Chassis Manufacturer: Nissan Diesel (UD Trucks Corp.)

Chassis Type: CPB87N

Chassis Length:

 

Transmission:

Method: Manual

Nr. of Gears:

> Forward: 6

> Reverse: 1

Without the tedious stuffing about in airports it was 7½ hours to Singapore and a further 11 hours to Heathrow. You might suppose I'd be ready to crash. Arriving at 6am London time would be a serious dislocation of my body clock and a waste of time. Instead, hopping off the Heathrow Express to London Paddington I'm perfectly placed to trot down the stairs to Paddington Underground and recharge my Oyster Card before settling in for a rest on the roughly 3½hr trip from Paddington to Plymouth. This can be relaxation time before a quick explore and some orientation in somewhere I've never been.

 

Then and only then can I consider falling in a heap before mounting up again for Plymouth's hinterland tomorrow.

 

Coincidentally bits of London Paddington Station are attributable to the works of Isambard Kingdom Brunel. I'll leave here on the Great Western Railway including those delightful stretches hugging the coast precariously as a rising sea nibbles away at the track's future. I expect there'll be more said about the great man as my trip moves on and importantly get some sleep.

Elsa has been deboxed. She is inserted in the base, but is without her cape.

 

I got the Beast Kingdom MC-005 Elsa 1/4 Scale Figure from Big Bad Toy Store today (Wednesday October 3, 2018). She is made from resin, has an excellent paint job, and stands 15 inches tall to the top of her head, or 16.5 inches to the top of her raised hand, or 18 inches tall on her stand. The base is 9.5 inches in diameter and 1 1/4 inches thick, with a non skid bottom. There is a silver plaque on the base which has the Edition number, 291, which is also on a separate Certificate of Authenticity. But there is no indication of the Edition size.

 

She is in her iconic Let It Go pose, same as the Maquette and many other figures. She comes in three parts, her body and dress, her cape, and the base. She has to be inserted into the base to stand, and the cape is inserted into her back. She is very stable on the base. There is silver glitter on her bodice and the snowflake and icicle patterns in her cape, and it does shed a little. She is a very accurate and very beautiful depiction of Snow Queen Elsa.

 

I show her being deboxed, then on the base without her cape, and finally fully assembled with her cape on.

 

Frozen Master Craft MC-005 Queen Elsa of Arendelle PX Previews Exclusive Statue

BY BEAST KINGDOM

BRANDS FROZEN, DISNEY

IN STOCK

$214.99

Sold by Big Bad Toy Store

 

Premiered in 2014, the animated motion picture Frozen has propelled Disney's motion pictures to new heights! In addition to instant fame to all characters in the movie, Frozen has also elevated Elsa to the number three spot on Disney's ranking for the most popular princess.

 

Beast Kingdom's MC-005 Frozen Elsa is based on the appearance of Elsa when she became the Snow Queen in the movie with her confident and resolute demeanor. The sculptor has painstakingly stayed true to the source materials from Disney so as to portray the perfect recreation of Elsa's elegance. With precise and detailed sculpting, this statue faithfully captures the look of confidence and elegant posture of Elsa.

 

Coupled with professional paint work and special paint materials, all details on the statue are accurate reproduction of the color scheme as seen in the animation. As she stands atop of her pearl luster base, Elsa is ready to unleash her powerful cryokinetic magic. Want to witness that breathtaking world of ice?

 

Come to Beast Kingdom and join Elsa in a return to the stunning scenery in the world of Frozen!

 

Product Features

 

1/4 scale

Previews Exclusive statue!

Features details from the film

Stands on her ice base!

Box Contents

 

Elsa of Arendelle 1/4 scale statue

 

More images at the manufacturer's Facebook page announcement of the figure:

MC-005 Frozen Elsa

 

Do not use without permission!

 

Disney Twitter: twitter.com/ThatDisneyLover

 

Photography Twitter: twitter.com/LJK_Photography

 

Youtube: www.youtube.com/user/PixelPixie123

 

Personal Instagram: www.instagram.com/thatdisneylover/

 

Photography Instagram: www.instagram.com/ljknightonphotography/

 

If any performers, characters or cast members that would like photos for personal or portfolio reasons, you may have any photo of themselves for a higher resolution or with a smaller watermark. Please either contact me through Twitter.

buried

 

Forest Hills, Queens, NYC

September 16, 2010

  

It all happened within 5 minutes.... At about quarter to 6, without warning, during the height of the evening rush, the most violent storm in recent memory tore across Staten Island, Brooklyn and central Queens. One tornado, with winds of 80 mph sent rooftops flying in Brooklyn, and a second tornado touched down in Queens, combined with a macroburst with winds in excess of 120mph. There was one tragic fatality, 1,500 trees were lost, 3,000 lightning strikes were counted, and 911 fielded 24,000 calls in the three hours following the storm.

The sky was getting dark, but having heard nothing on the weather forecast, I went out to the supermarket. As I walked back there was near constant thunder and I almost ran to get home, feeling the impending intensity in the air. I hurried up the front walk of our apartment just as the first big drops were falling and by the time I made it upstairs, water was blasting through the windows. Even after I closed them, water was coming THROUGH the air conditioner. You could see nothing outside but a dark-green and grey swirl and it sounded as if someone was punching the glass, trying to get in. The wind seemed to come from everywhere. And then it was suddenly gone.

Almost immediately, the sirens began, and I'm sure many were injured. Very sadly, a woman from Pennsylvania was killed nearby in her car. Our front walkway was barricaded by fallen trees, which was the general scene everywhere. Every block was littered with trees, many of them huge and ancient. A few windows in our building were smashed out. Eerily, there were also a number of shoes and umbrellas laying around- discarded as people ran for cover. In the air was the smell of fire. I must have seen more than 40 damaged cars, and about ten which were completely crushed. Many streets were impassable, and a traffic nightmare quickly ensued- total gridlock, people going the wrong way down streets, pedestrians everywhere, and off-duty cops trying their best to keep the peace. Someone told me it took him one hour to drive two blocks.

The general sense on the street was one of disbelief, as many homebound commuters emerged from the subway totally unaware of what happened, the unique Forest Hills blend of trees and urban-ness mangled out of recognition. As night fell, the scene became more chaotic still, with snarled traffic and constant sirens lasting until well after midnight. Firefighters from other neighborhoods were having trouble navigating the bizarre address system of Queens, and worse, could barely fight through the crowds. I overheard on a police radio that, among other incidents, a woman was going into labor a few blocks away.

Up at Queens Boulevard, a few stores had lost their windows- some had overturned shelves and puddles of water. Many signs were damaged and some teenagers were gleefully carrying a huge green "Yellowstone Blvd" sign that had fallen.

After midnight, there was a bit of peace, but within an hour around 7am, the chaos returned full force. There's a lot of clean-up to be done, and I imagine it will take weeks. All told, however, we are lucky. It is amazing, though sad, that there was only one fatality- that almost everyone managed to stay clear of all the falling trees is miraculous. Far worse things happen all the time around the world. Still, the words on everyone's lips as you walk through the neighborhood today are best summed up by what I heard an elderly woman say in a thick Russian accent: "In my life, I never seen nothing like this"

 

Without any digital camera.

Sans appareil photo numérique.

Ohne Digitalkamera.

All advices and critiques are highly welcomed.

  

Don't use this photo without my permission ©

 

iPad painting (procreate app)

without focus confirmation chip

Space Gals without Helmets

Please do not use this image without my prior consent.

 

ESQ by Movado/ Quest Chronograph

39mm (with crown)/ Domed Crystal/ Swiss Quartz Movement/ White Dial/ Stainless Steel/ Black Leather Strap

 

Wait, an ESQ? Many watch enthusiast might snob over the the brand and feel disappointed in me with this purchase. The truth is, I am not ashamed by my choice. This watch was purchased right after colleague, Same day before my first interview. Newbie in adult world, dress with black suit, try to act like an adult then I realized I do not have a proper dress watch. Most of my watch choice are casual. I was unwilling to just wear any watch I own to go by.

 

The "go by" type of attitude in small things some times reflect on one's worth ethic. If I pay attention, my interviewer might pick on small details. I wasn't gonna take my chance. My interview was in the afternoon and I spend all morning trying to find one that would fit with my limited budget. This ESQ was my final decision. After all, it is still a watch brand unlike fashion labels such as Armani, DKNY. ESQ is under Movado and it priced I can afford. Strap it on right the way, my confidence gain just a little bit. I look proper and ready to tackle my first real life obstacle.

 

Did the interview go well? That is the point of my story. I was satisfied.

Without my camera in hand for the day, had to last resort it with the iPhone 6S. Meanwhile, hanging out with my good friends having a couple drinks

Marco Carta

Alcatraz - Milano

14 Maggio 2013

 

© Mairo Cinquetti

 

© All rights reserved. Do not use my photos without my written permission. If you would like to buy or use this photo PLEASE message me or email me at mairo.cinquetti@gmail.com

 

Immagine protetta da copyright © Mairo Cinquetti.

Tutti i diritti sono riservati. L'immagine non può essere usata in nessun caso senza autorizzazione scritta dell'autore.

Per contatti: mairo.cinquetti@gmail.com

 

È venuto al mondo a Cagliari nel 1985. Erano le 14.45 di un caldo 21 maggio, il primo giorno dei Gemelli. I nati sotto questo segno zodiacale si distinguono per l’intelligenza brillante. In più sono estremamente curiosi, eclettici, ironici e intuitivi. Marco Carta possiede tutte queste caratteristiche tipiche dei nati nei Gemelli; ma il suo percorso umano e artistico dimostra che il trionfatore di “Amici” è dotato anche di grande forza d’animo e fiera determinazione nel raggiungere gli obiettivi. Alla festa del sesto compleanno spegne le candeline promettendo a se stesso: «da grande farò il cantante». Da quel giorno dedica ogni energia alla realizzazione del sogno. Fin da bambino Marco canta con passione e insospettabile facilità le canzoni del suo idolo assoluto Lucio Battisti, che era anche l’artista prediletto della madre. I primi brani che interpreta con maggiore consapevolezza vocale sono “La solitudine” di Laura Pausini e “Albachiara” di Vasco Rossi.

 

La musica diventa la sua ragione di vita, e una preziosa valvola di sfogo, dopo la perdita dei genitori: il padre scompare quando ha 8 anni; la mamma quando ne ha 10. Marco cresce assieme al fratello con i nonni materni; coltivando con ambizione ancora maggiore il suo sogno. Il primo concerto visto è quello dei Lunapop. I primi dischi comprati sono “Ultimamente” di Alex Baroni e “Le cose che vivi”di Laura Pausini. Contemporaneamente affina il proprio talento vocale attraverso le prime esibizioni come solista in live-pub e cerimonie private, conquistando alcuni premi e critiche lusinghiere.

 

Dopo l’Istituto Professionale per Elettrotecnici, Marco lavora come parrucchiere nel salone della zia: i guadagni vengono investiti in biglietti d’aereo per volare a Roma a fare provini. Sono anni di illusioni e altrettante disillusioni, che però non intaccano la sua fiducia nelle proprie doti artistiche, tantomeno la determinazione nell’inseguire la grande occasione.

 

Il 20 ottobre 2007 finalmente Marco Carta viene ammesso nel cast di “Amici”. Il sogno si è avverato. Quasi… Infatti sono sei mesi molto duri fra incertezze, crisi esistenziali, dubbi, paure e difficoltà. Marco supera ogni ostacolo dimostrando che il suo talento artistico è supportato da notevole forza e sensibilità sul piano umano. Alla fine è un trionfo! Il 16 aprile 2008 Marco Carta vince la finale di “Amici” con il 75% delle preferenze.

 

Il plebiscito ottenuto ad “Amici” viene confermato con l’album d’esordio “Ti rincontrerò” (Warner Music), che conquista il disco di platino. Uscito il 13 giugno 2008, il disco “Ti rincontrerò” contiene 4 inediti: il singolo omonimo dedicato alla madre; il secondo singolo “Un grande libro nuovo”; “Anima di nuvola” e “Per sempre”. La tracklist è completata da cover che testimoniano la sua versatilità interpretativa: “A chi” (Fausto Leali), “Ti pretendo” (Raf), “E tu” (Claudio Baglioni), “La donna cannone” (Francesco De Gregori) e “Vita” (Lucio Dalla & Gianni Morandi) cantata in duetto con Luca Jurman. Nella versione deluxe del cd “Ti rincontrerò” in vendita su iTunes c’è anche una rilettura di “Mi ritorni in mente” di Lucio Battisti.

 

Marco Carta si aggiudica il premio internazionale What’s Up come miglior artista dell’anno e viene invitato come ospite d’onore ai Wind Music Awards. Il video del singolo “Ti rincontrerò” ottiene il “Pensionamento” nella trasmissione TRL di Mtv: si tratta di un riconoscimento che viene assegnato ai filmati che rimangono oltre 40 settimane fra le prime tre posizioni della classifica dei video più visti. E quello di Carta staziona a lungo al numero uno.

 

Il cantante sardo è abituato a primeggiare: già a scuola era il capitano della squadra di volley. Ha praticato anche il TaeKwonDo e gioca a calcio. Tifoso del Cagliari e simpatizzante della Roma, ha partecipato alla Partita del Cuore 2008 fra la Nazionale Italiana Cantanti e la Nazionale Unica formata da cantanti, attori e comici. In quell’occasione, trasmessa in diretta dalla Rai, Carta ha cantato dal vivo e si è fatto valere anche come calciatore nella squadra della Nazionale Unica. Dopo quella performance sportiva è entrato nel roster della Nazionale Italiana Cantanti.

 

Durante l’estate 2008 è protagonista di un tour entusiasmante che raduna oltre 200 mila spettatori. La consacrazione live arriva a Capodanno: Marco Carta festeggia l’arrivo del 2009 con un concerto nella sua Cagliari davanti a 70 mila persone. La straordinaria esperienza sul palco è testimoniata da “Marco Carta In Concerto” (Warner Music): cd+dvd con la ripresa di un’esibizione estiva a Cagliari. Pubblicato il 3 ottobre 2008, l’album dal vivo è vicino al traguardo del disco d’oro.

 

Altre grandi passioni sono gli animali (possiede 4 cani – 3 meticci e 1 carlino – e alcuni coloratissimi pappagallini) e il cinema, in particolare le trame thriller. Il film preferito è “Amityville Horror”; gli attori prediletti Robert De Niro e Cameron Diaz. Marco ha partecipato alla pellicola d’animazione “Impy 2” (in uscita a fine gennaio 2009) come doppiatore e interprete della cover “That’s The Way” inserita nella colonna sonora.

 

Il 2009 è l’anno del debutto al Festival di Sanremo dove vince nella categoria “artisti” con la canzone “La forza mia”, il primo singolo del nuovo omonimo album che in pochi giorni raggiunge il disco di platino per le vendite.

 

A fine aprile è partito il suo tour nei Palasport che lo vede impegnato nelle principali città italiane.

 

L’estate 2009 è stata ricca di riconoscimenti con due premi ai TRL Awards a Trieste (Man Of The Year e Best #1 Of The Year), tre premi agli Wind Musici Awards (uno per il disco di platino di “Ti rincontrerò”, uno per il disco di platino di “La Forza Mia”, e il terzo come artista più votato da RTL 102.5); infine a luglio a Venezia ha ritirato il premio speciale Venice Music Awards come artista maschile dell’anno.

 

A gennaio 2010 Marco Carta trionfa con “La Forza Mia” e “Dentro ad ogni brivido” nella classifica dei migliori video del 2009 selezionati da Mtv Hits e votati dagli utenti di SKY.it.

 

Marco Carta pubblica a maggio 2010 il nuovo disco di inediti “Il Cuore Muove” prodotto da Paolo Carta e anticipato in radio dal singolo “Quelle che dai” scritto da James Morrison.

 

Ai vertici delle classifiche di vendita di dischi; Marco da giugno ha iniziato il tour che lo ha visto protagonista per tutta l’estate nelle principali località italiane. A maggio 2011 riceve il premio per il disco d’oro ai Wind Music Awards a Verona.

 

Ad aprile 2012 viene pubblicato il suo quarto disco di inediti “Necessità Lunatica” e il 31 marzo vince i Kids’ Choise Awards 2012 di Nickelodeon come “miglior cantante italiano”, oltre a tornare nella scuola di “Amici” nella sfida tra i big.

I received the Moana Snow Globe today from the Disney Store. It was in a huge shipping carton at least twice as large as it needed to be, but fortunately the snow globe came in perfect condition. It costs $69.95, and is now sold out online. The globe itself is 3 inches in diameter, the base is 7 inches in diameter by 3 inches high. The overall height of the piece is 10 inches when fully assembled.

 

This is the best snow globe that the Disney Store has produced since the Brave one back in 2012, and is well worth its cost. The Moana globe has an amazing amount of detail, with Maui, Moana and Pua in the globe in the middle of their boat. At the bow is Hei Hei. Under the boat are the ocean waves, which light up. It also plays 20 seconds of the song "We Know the Way."

 

I show the globe both without the sail (so the figures in the globe can be seen from all angles), and with the sail. Also unlit and lit. Finally I show it side by side with the Brave snowglobe.

 

It's a shame that Disney has never produced a snowglobe of this quality for Frozen, which would have been a natural.