Top Diaries

An easy one to start you off!

by In Wales (inwales aaat eurotrib.com) on Fri Oct 5th, 2007 at 02:55:28 AM EST
[ Parent ]

Mmmmhhhh! reminds me of someone! :-)

by Fran on Fri Oct 5th, 2007 at 02:59:30 AM EST
[ Parent ]

You got in there quick, Fran!

by In Wales (inwales aaat eurotrib.com) on Fri Oct 5th, 2007 at 03:03:08 AM EST
[ Parent ]

Looks like someone's hair.

by afew (afew(a in a circle)eurotrib_dot_com) on Fri Oct 5th, 2007 at 03:18:33 AM EST
[ Parent ]

That'll teach me to keep hitting the Refresh button on Recent Comments ... :-)

by afew (afew(a in a circle)eurotrib_dot_com) on Fri Oct 5th, 2007 at 03:21:20 AM EST
[ Parent ]

It's my HAIR! It's MY hair!!

by someone (s0me1smail(a)gmail(d)com) on Fri Oct 5th, 2007 at 03:27:24 AM EST
[ Parent ]

It is! I cropped it. Mwah ha hahaaaa.

by In Wales (inwales aaat eurotrib.com) on Fri Oct 5th, 2007 at 03:28:22 AM EST
[ Parent ]

WHERE IS IT? (4.00 / 4)

Not what, but where??

by someone (s0me1smail(a)gmail(d)com) on Fri Oct 5th, 2007 at 03:24:44 AM EST
[ Parent ]

Owwww (4.00 / 4)

Can I? Can I?

Where: Amsterdam (you can tell from the sky we're in the Netherlands)

I thought that used to be part of the Salvation's Army... but could be wrong.

by Nomad (Bjinse) on Fri Oct 5th, 2007 at 04:58:08 AM EST
[ Parent ]

Re: Owwww (4.00 / 2)

Indeed! You are correct.

by someone (s0me1smail(a)gmail(d)com) on Fri Oct 5th, 2007 at 05:03:42 AM EST
[ Parent ]

Re: Owwww (4.00 / 2)

Given the big slogans GOD ROEPT U - JESUS LOVES YOU, you're no doubt right about the Salvation Army!

by afew (afew(a in a circle)eurotrib_dot_com) on Fri Oct 5th, 2007 at 05:05:30 AM EST
[ Parent ]

Re: Owwww (none / 0)

Building is to the left when you exit Central Station towards the Damrak.

by nanne (zwaerdenmaecker@gmail.com) on Tue Oct 9th, 2007 at 08:13:16 AM EST
[ Parent ]

From estHer.

Hey, Grandma Moses started late!

by LEP on Fri Oct 5th, 2007 at 03:43:42 AM EST
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How did she do that? Shining light through a shape?
Hmmmm.

by In Wales (inwales aaat eurotrib.com) on Fri Oct 5th, 2007 at 07:21:23 AM EST
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I don't really know. When she comes home tonight I'll ask her to post the recipe.

Hey, Grandma Moses started late!

by LEP on Fri Oct 5th, 2007 at 07:44:25 AM EST
[ Parent ]

It's a starfish made of plaster, no?

by gioele (gioele(daught)sandler(aaaattttt)gmail(daught)kom) on Fri Oct 5th, 2007 at 10:56:18 AM EST
[ Parent ]

Here's the answer. (none / 1)

EstHer is too busy talking to her friends on MSN so I'll post her explanation. She had this keychain holder made of metal with a hole in it shaped like a star in the photo above. She then photographed the keychain holder, in front of a white wall, several centimeters from the camera. The result, the white star you see is the white wall in the shape of the hole and the dark part is the solid keychain holder.
It took my two kids 20 minutes to explain this to me. They said I was slow; I said they were not skillful communicators and that they had to work harder in school.

s

Hey, Grandma Moses started late!

by LEP on Sat Oct 6th, 2007 at 08:12:39 AM EST
[ Parent ]

Re: Here's the answer. (none / 0)

Ingenious!

by gioele (gioele(daught)sandler(aaaattttt)gmail(daught)kom) on Sat Oct 6th, 2007 at 01:43:13 PM EST
[ Parent ]

Re: Here's the answer. (none / 0)

Ah haaaa, smart work indeed. So she focused on the wall through the hole in the keychain? Who won the argument of slow vs poor communicator?

by In Wales (inwales aaat eurotrib.com) on Sat Oct 6th, 2007 at 02:06:09 PM EST
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Re: Here's the answer. (none / 1)

Who do you think? They do not take me very seriously.

Hey, Grandma Moses started late!

by LEP on Sat Oct 6th, 2007 at 02:13:00 PM EST
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Re: Here's the answer. (none / 1)

I blame schools!

by In Wales (inwales aaat eurotrib.com) on Sat Oct 6th, 2007 at 02:23:34 PM EST
[ Parent ]

by someone (s0me1smail(a)gmail(d)com) on Fri Oct 5th, 2007 at 03:48:36 AM EST
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Ooops!!

by someone (s0me1smail(a)gmail(d)com) on Fri Oct 5th, 2007 at 03:49:03 AM EST
[ Parent ]

Is no.1 skiing instructions? How to prevent injury when skiing or something...

No. 2, power cables?

No.3 Is it part of some technogadetry physics accelerator thing?

by In Wales (inwales aaat eurotrib.com) on Fri Oct 5th, 2007 at 07:16:19 AM EST
[ Parent ]

Almost...

Exercise instructions, some kind of stretches I think
Yes
A gas pipeline, coming over a bridge, and going into the ground

Now for some π porn:

by someone (s0me1smail(a)gmail(d)com) on Fri Oct 5th, 2007 at 07:34:45 AM EST
[ Parent ]

I don't know why but I'm feeling excited.

Hey, Grandma Moses started late!

by LEP on Fri Oct 5th, 2007 at 07:47:05 AM EST
[ Parent ]

Feeling excited? (none / 1)

Whenever I get that way I first run in a circle then divide that distance by the lenth it takes to cross straight across the circle, then I pull it out of the oven cause I'm done... ;>)

by gioele (gioele(daught)sandler(aaaattttt)gmail(daught)kom) on Fri Oct 5th, 2007 at 11:29:35 AM EST
[ Parent ]

Re: Feeling excited? (none / 1)

Oops, I mean "length"...

I got excited too...

by gioele (gioele(daught)sandler(aaaattttt)gmail(daught)kom) on Fri Oct 5th, 2007 at 11:30:58 AM EST
[ Parent ]

Re: Feeling excited? (none / 1)

Gracie Allen's Classic Recipe for Roast Beef

1 large Roast of beef

1 small Roast of beef

Take the two roasts and put them in the oven.

When the little one burns, the big one is done.

Hey, Grandma Moses started late!

by LEP on Fri Oct 5th, 2007 at 11:35:44 AM EST
[ Parent ]

Hey, Grandma Moses started late!

by LEP on Fri Oct 5th, 2007 at 03:59:31 AM EST
[ Parent ]

Lockheed SR-71 Blackbird ( US spyplane)

The struggle of man against tyranny is the struggle of memory against forgetting.(Kundera)

by Elco B (elcob at scarlet dot be) on Fri Oct 5th, 2007 at 04:14:22 AM EST
[ Parent ]

I was going to say in the title: "this one's for Elco B>"

Elco B, have you been to the Dulles Air and Space Museum? If not, I took a lot of photos there a year ago with my old Kodak, and I can put them in a folder at Picassa for you to look at.

Hey, Grandma Moses started late!

by LEP on Fri Oct 5th, 2007 at 04:25:45 AM EST
[ Parent ]

I never was in the USA. I know they have huge aviation museums, so yes, I'm very curious to see your pictures.
That first picture is very impressive(original angle).Thanks!

The struggle of man against tyranny is the struggle of memory against forgetting.(Kundera)

by Elco B (elcob at scarlet dot be) on Fri Oct 5th, 2007 at 05:48:21 AM EST
[ Parent ]

It will take me some time to get them up on Picassa. I'll let you know on the open thread when they're up.

Hey, Grandma Moses started late!

by LEP on Fri Oct 5th, 2007 at 05:53:03 AM EST
[ Parent ]

OK...thanks very much.

The struggle of man against tyranny is the struggle of memory against forgetting.(Kundera)

by Elco B (elcob at scarlet dot be) on Fri Oct 5th, 2007 at 05:55:44 AM EST
[ Parent ]

When I was in the U S(ure) A(re) F(ucked) the SR-71 flew out of our base. Very impressive machine-at the time no one was allowed to get close.

"I said, 'Wait a minute, Chester, You know I'm a peaceful man...'" Robbie Robertson

by NearlyNormal on Fri Oct 5th, 2007 at 10:20:35 PM EST
[ Parent ]

Sorry, it's a little blurred.

Hey, Grandma Moses started late!

by LEP on Fri Oct 5th, 2007 at 07:37:47 AM EST
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Some end of line sale in an old theatre? Is the theatre still used as a theatre?

by In Wales (inwales aaat eurotrib.com) on Fri Oct 5th, 2007 at 07:55:34 AM EST
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It's a very strange place. This is in the Goutte d'Or section of the 18th of Paris which is primarily arab and black, but which is quickly being gentrified or yuppyfied. It's an elegant old theatre, probably cinema, which now houses a Kata shoe store with most of its shoes in the 7 to 10 euro range; really cheap stuff. So it's kind of surreal, this garbage shoe store in a very elegant atmosphere.

Hey, Grandma Moses started late!

by LEP on Fri Oct 5th, 2007 at 08:04:00 AM EST
[ Parent ]

<<it's blurred...>>
an Odeon during an earth tremor?

N

f8; and be there...

by Nigel CheffersHeard (nigelch(at)cheffers(dot)co(dot)uk) on Sat Oct 6th, 2007 at 03:14:25 PM EST
[ Parent ]

Very good!

Hey, Grandma Moses started late!

by LEP on Sat Oct 6th, 2007 at 03:21:36 PM EST
[ Parent ]

What it is...

by gioele (gioele(daught)sandler(aaaattttt)gmail(daught)kom) on Fri Oct 5th, 2007 at 08:08:59 AM EST
[ Parent ]

well looking at the pattern I'd say Celtic Knot maze, but the characters at the top make me think more Sumerian than Celtic.

Any idiot can face a crisis - it's day to day living that wears you out.

by ceebs (ceebs (at) eurotrib (dot) com) on Fri Oct 5th, 2007 at 10:24:36 AM EST
[ Parent ]

First guess incorrect, second guess is right on...

But what is it?

Hint: It's anatomical...

by gioele (gioele(daught)sandler(aaaattttt)gmail(daught)kom) on Fri Oct 5th, 2007 at 10:39:27 AM EST
[ Parent ]

intestines or Womb

Any idiot can face a crisis - it's day to day living that wears you out.

by ceebs (ceebs (at) eurotrib (dot) com) on Fri Oct 5th, 2007 at 10:49:56 AM EST
[ Parent ]

Okay, close enough, it's a sheep's colon.

At least thats what the caption at the Pergamon Museum said.

I think they must have used it as a tool for fortune telling. Maybe they recorded it because it was a particularly good or bad one...

6 out of 10 points...

by gioele (gioele(daught)sandler(aaaattttt)gmail(daught)kom) on Fri Oct 5th, 2007 at 11:01:15 AM EST
[ Parent ]

Hmmm...

by gioele (gioele(daught)sandler(aaaattttt)gmail(daught)kom) on Fri Oct 5th, 2007 at 08:21:51 AM EST
[ Parent ]

Neat (none / 1)

Rocks!

Looks like slate to me. (The English definition for slate.) Slate tiles... on a roof?

by Nomad (Bjinse) on Fri Oct 5th, 2007 at 08:59:37 AM EST
[ Parent ]

Yep... (none / 0)

It's a crop from a slate roof. The corner by a window dormer where the work got tricky. I love the craftsmanship.

by gioele (gioele(daught)sandler(aaaattttt)gmail(daught)kom) on Fri Oct 5th, 2007 at 09:16:34 AM EST
[ Parent ]

?????...

by gioele (gioele(daught)sandler(aaaattttt)gmail(daught)kom) on Fri Oct 5th, 2007 at 08:29:56 AM EST
[ Parent ]

An arrow slit in a castle wall?

Any idiot can face a crisis - it's day to day living that wears you out.

by ceebs (ceebs (at) eurotrib (dot) com) on Fri Oct 5th, 2007 at 08:54:06 AM EST
[ Parent ]

We have a winner, go to Window #3 to pick up your prize!

by gioele (gioele(daught)sandler(aaaattttt)gmail(daught)kom) on Fri Oct 5th, 2007 at 08:55:27 AM EST
[ Parent ]

What castle is it? it's fairly early, because later ones are cross shaped so that the defenders can use crossbows

Any idiot can face a crisis - it's day to day living that wears you out.

by ceebs (ceebs (at) eurotrib (dot) com) on Fri Oct 5th, 2007 at 09:00:10 AM EST
[ Parent ]

I don't recall the name but it's on the outskirts of Baden-Baden in Baden-Württemberg, DE.

It was pretty much a small tower and and a few ancillary buildings...

by gioele (gioele(daught)sandler(aaaattttt)gmail(daught)kom) on Fri Oct 5th, 2007 at 09:09:06 AM EST
[ Parent ]

Re: WHAT ARE THEY? (4.00 / 2)

#1...???...

#2...???...

by gioele (gioele(daught)sandler(aaaattttt)gmail(daught)kom) on Fri Oct 5th, 2007 at 08:54:25 AM EST
[ Parent ]

Re: WHAT ARE THEY? (none / 1)

First is a dam water output?

Un roi sans divertissement est un homme plein de misères

by linca (antonin POINT lucas AROBASE gmail.com) on Sat Oct 6th, 2007 at 08:13:23 AM EST
[ Parent ]

Yep, and according to the blurb on the signage it's a hydro-electric dam...

by gioele (gioele(daught)sandler(aaaattttt)gmail(daught)kom) on Sat Oct 6th, 2007 at 01:45:37 PM EST
[ Parent ]

the second is a variant of the BMW GG quad with the optional side paniers.

Any idiot can face a crisis - it's day to day living that wears you out.

by ceebs (ceebs (at) eurotrib (dot) com) on Sat Oct 6th, 2007 at 08:21:24 AM EST
[ Parent ]

Sweet, I didn't know exactly what it was but it's very slick...

Thanks for solving the mystery!

by gioele (gioele(daught)sandler(aaaattttt)gmail(daught)kom) on Sat Oct 6th, 2007 at 01:47:34 PM EST
[ Parent ]

search engines were my helpers. The engine is obviously a BMW bike engine from the bits you can see, so I just went hunting for a BMW quad bike.

Any idiot can face a crisis - it's day to day living that wears you out.

by ceebs (ceebs (at) eurotrib (dot) com) on Sat Oct 6th, 2007 at 06:01:09 PM EST
[ Parent ]

Any idiot can face a crisis - it's day to day living that wears you out.

by ceebs (ceebs (at) eurotrib (dot) com) on Fri Oct 5th, 2007 at 08:54:51 AM EST
[ Parent ]

Ancient parking lot?

by gioele (gioele(daught)sandler(aaaattttt)gmail(daught)kom) on Fri Oct 5th, 2007 at 09:23:15 AM EST
[ Parent ]

it's more for movement than being stationary.

Any idiot can face a crisis - it's day to day living that wears you out.

by ceebs (ceebs (at) eurotrib (dot) com) on Fri Oct 5th, 2007 at 09:26:26 AM EST
[ Parent ]

Aqueduct?

by gioele (gioele(daught)sandler(aaaattttt)gmail(daught)kom) on Fri Oct 5th, 2007 at 10:54:14 AM EST
[ Parent ]

Mayan football court?

by gioele (gioele(daught)sandler(aaaattttt)gmail(daught)kom) on Fri Oct 5th, 2007 at 11:10:13 AM EST
[ Parent ]

that's closer,

Hint If I told you the name of the place where it is it would be obvious what it was.

Any idiot can face a crisis - it's day to day living that wears you out.

by ceebs (ceebs (at) eurotrib (dot) com) on Fri Oct 5th, 2007 at 11:15:56 AM EST
[ Parent ]

It looks like a giant Bocci ball field.

Hey, Grandma Moses started late!

by LEP on Fri Oct 5th, 2007 at 11:21:20 AM EST
[ Parent ]

OK last clue, if you look backat my earlier photos, you'll find something taken at the same place.

Any idiot can face a crisis - it's day to day living that wears you out.

by ceebs (ceebs (at) eurotrib (dot) com) on Fri Oct 5th, 2007 at 11:28:29 AM EST
[ Parent ]

It's all Greek to me... ; )

by gioele (gioele(daught)sandler(aaaattttt)gmail(daught)kom) on Fri Oct 5th, 2007 at 11:43:00 AM EST
[ Parent ]

yes, but what is it? ;-)

Any idiot can face a crisis - it's day to day living that wears you out.

by ceebs (ceebs (at) eurotrib (dot) com) on Fri Oct 5th, 2007 at 12:07:36 PM EST
[ Parent ]

The ruins of a stable?

by gioele (gioele(daught)sandler(aaaattttt)gmail(daught)kom) on Fri Oct 5th, 2007 at 12:09:32 PM EST
[ Parent ]

The square hole in the foreground looks to have held a timber framing member... and I can see others along the "wall" periodically.

Is this the fabled stable that Hercules had to clean as one of his labors?

by gioele (gioele(daught)sandler(aaaattttt)gmail(daught)kom) on Fri Oct 5th, 2007 at 12:15:39 PM EST
[ Parent ]

Nope

but it is linked to Hercules (or in other versions Pelops)

Any idiot can face a crisis - it's day to day living that wears you out.

by ceebs (ceebs (at) eurotrib (dot) com) on Fri Oct 5th, 2007 at 12:31:34 PM EST
[ Parent ]

Is it the Olympic stadium or the Tomb of Pelops?

by gioele (gioele(daught)sandler(aaaattttt)gmail(daught)kom) on Fri Oct 5th, 2007 at 12:41:31 PM EST
[ Parent ]

WE HAVE A WINNER.

it is the running track at Olympus.

Any idiot can face a crisis - it's day to day living that wears you out.

by ceebs (ceebs (at) eurotrib (dot) com) on Fri Oct 5th, 2007 at 12:45:21 PM EST
[ Parent ]

???...

by gioele (gioele(daught)sandler(aaaattttt)gmail(daught)kom) on Fri Oct 5th, 2007 at 08:59:01 AM EST
[ Parent ]

Stumped. Have been staring at this for the fifth time now.

by Nomad (Bjinse) on Fri Oct 5th, 2007 at 01:43:30 PM EST
[ Parent ]

It's some compound bend conduit work that I did on this solar installation in Napa, CA

Conduits feeding solar string disconnects

Another view...

An overview with valley backround...

by gioele (gioele(daught)sandler(aaaattttt)gmail(daught)kom) on Sat Oct 6th, 2007 at 02:20:15 PM EST
[ Parent ]

That's impressive.

What's the total power output of an installation like that?

by ThatBritGuy (thatbritguy (at) googlemail.com) on Sun Oct 7th, 2007 at 10:54:51 AM EST
[ Parent ]

This install was 125 kW, if my memory serves me correctly.

The modules are 220w, manufactured by SunPower Corporation.

PDF spec sheet

by gioele (gioele(daught)sandler(aaaattttt)gmail(daught)kom) on Sun Oct 7th, 2007 at 02:05:40 PM EST
[ Parent ]

Maybe part of an irrigator or the distributor of a crop duster?

_{*Lunatic*, n.

One whose delusions are out of fashion.}

by DoDo on Sat Oct 6th, 2007 at 10:14:20 AM EST
[ Parent ]

See above...

by gioele (gioele(daught)sandler(aaaattttt)gmail(daught)kom) on Sat Oct 6th, 2007 at 02:20:57 PM EST
[ Parent ]

Re: WHERE IS IT? (4.00 / 3)

Know what it is and you will know where it is...

by gioele (gioele(daught)sandler(aaaattttt)gmail(daught)kom) on Fri Oct 5th, 2007 at 09:11:03 AM EST
[ Parent ]

Le sigh (none / 1)

More rocks.

This one I don't know, but it reminds me of the pictures I've seen about Yosemite.

Wants to be there, sun on face, smell cliff of rock face.

Rocks smell nice, you know. Earthy. Whole. Full. Like a good merlot.

by Nomad (Bjinse) on Fri Oct 5th, 2007 at 10:04:14 AM EST
[ Parent ]

Re: Le sigh (none / 0)

Yessss, it's a zoomed in picture of El Capitan and Halfdome from about 15 kilometers or so out, looking up the valley...

by gioele (gioele(daught)sandler(aaaattttt)gmail(daught)kom) on Fri Oct 5th, 2007 at 10:42:01 AM EST
[ Parent ]

Re: WHERE IS IT? (none / 0)

half dome?

"I said, 'Wait a minute, Chester, You know I'm a peaceful man...'" Robbie Robertson

by NearlyNormal on Fri Oct 5th, 2007 at 10:21:17 PM EST
[ Parent ]

Re: WHERE IS IT? (none / 1)

Yep and El Capitan from way outside the valley...

by gioele (gioele(daught)sandler(aaaattttt)gmail(daught)kom) on Sat Oct 6th, 2007 at 02:22:28 PM EST
[ Parent ]

Okay, here's the last until I make a beer run...

It's not a simple as you think, or is it?

by gioele (gioele(daught)sandler(aaaattttt)gmail(daught)kom) on Fri Oct 5th, 2007 at 09:20:32 AM EST
[ Parent ]

Sauna interior?

by ThatBritGuy (thatbritguy (at) googlemail.com) on Fri Oct 5th, 2007 at 09:27:40 AM EST
[ Parent ]

Nope, good guess though...

It has to do with the thing I just made a run for, but before that it was used for something involving spherical objects being hurled...

by gioele (gioele(daught)sandler(aaaattttt)gmail(daught)kom) on Fri Oct 5th, 2007 at 10:45:41 AM EST
[ Parent ]

bowling ground, so.

Un roi sans divertissement est un homme plein de misères

by linca (antonin POINT lucas AROBASE gmail.com) on Sat Oct 6th, 2007 at 08:14:06 AM EST
[ Parent ]

The Answer is:

It's actually the bar top at a pub that I used to frequent and the wood was taken from an old bowling alley... The name of the place is "Lane Splitter".

Five points!

by gioele (gioele(daught)sandler(aaaattttt)gmail(daught)kom) on Sat Oct 6th, 2007 at 02:40:27 PM EST
[ Parent ]

Hey, Grandma Moses started late!

by LEP on Fri Oct 5th, 2007 at 10:07:53 AM EST
[ Parent ]

Looks like a drugstore in the one if the following areas:
Washington, DC, Virginia, Maryland, Pennsylvania, North Carolina, New Jersey, Georgia or Delaware

And yes I did use Google (don't touch it, it's evil) but CVS didn't tell me where they are...

Ten bonus points for anyone who can tell me where the evil quote is from!

by gioele (gioele(daught)sandler(aaaattttt)gmail(daught)kom) on Fri Oct 5th, 2007 at 10:52:55 AM EST
[ Parent ]

It is a CVS drugstore in Georgetown, Washington, D.C. But, what's important is not what it is now but what it was before it became a drugstore. Hint: I spent almost 30 years in that building. My office was in the windowed part upper left.
Let's see if anyone can guess what it was. Another hint: It was quite well known throughout the U.S. to people who were familiar with its specialty.

Hey, Grandma Moses started late!

by LEP on Fri Oct 5th, 2007 at 11:10:26 AM EST
[ Parent ]

Post Office, specializing in collector stamps?

by gioele (gioele(daught)sandler(aaaattttt)gmail(daught)kom) on Fri Oct 5th, 2007 at 12:03:20 PM EST
[ Parent ]

Nope! Someone who lived in the D.C. area between 1967 and 1996 might recognize it.

Hey, Grandma Moses started late!

by LEP on Fri Oct 5th, 2007 at 12:12:49 PM EST
[ Parent ]

Hey, isn't this supposed to be the European Tribune? ; )

by gioele (gioele(daught)sandler(aaaattttt)gmail(daught)kom) on Fri Oct 5th, 2007 at 12:18:01 PM EST
[ Parent ]

I am a European now. That has to do with my American past.

Hey, Grandma Moses started late!

by LEP on Fri Oct 5th, 2007 at 12:26:32 PM EST
[ Parent ]

I know, I'm a USie too, transplanted to D, but I am stymied so I'm changing the subject...

No fair, that's too hard! Waaahh!

by gioele (gioele(daught)sandler(aaaattttt)gmail(daught)kom) on Fri Oct 5th, 2007 at 12:36:04 PM EST
[ Parent ]

If you didn't live in the D.C. area it's very hard.

Hey, Grandma Moses started late!

by LEP on Fri Oct 5th, 2007 at 12:43:38 PM EST
[ Parent ]

OMG, is that the Biograph?

by the stormy present (stormypresent aaaaaaat gmail etc) on Fri Oct 5th, 2007 at 01:13:02 PM EST
[ Parent ]

WE HAVE A WINNER! How do you know the Biograph?

Hey, Grandma Moses started late!

by LEP on Fri Oct 5th, 2007 at 01:15:59 PM EST
[ Parent ]

What IS the Biograph?

by gioele (gioele(daught)sandler(aaaattttt)gmail(daught)kom) on Fri Oct 5th, 2007 at 01:17:33 PM EST
[ Parent ]

It was a movie theater, like THE place for art and indie movies in DC for something like 30 years.

It's very sorely missed, by me and many others I know.

Biograph, RIP.

by the stormy present (stormypresent aaaaaaat gmail etc) on Fri Oct 5th, 2007 at 01:21:31 PM EST
[ Parent ]

Re: WHAT IS IT? (4.00 / 7)

The Biograph was an old fashioned single screen art film house that opened in 1967. I was one of the founders and worked in it almost all my working life. It's safe to say that it became an institution in Washington and it is still written about in the Washington Post 11 years after its closing. It became very well known nationally in its niche industry because of its unique programming. My partner was the programmer and I was the business manager- we had other theatres also but the Biograph was the famous one and our love. The others were just for making money.

Hey, Grandma Moses started late!

by LEP on Fri Oct 5th, 2007 at 01:26:18 PM EST
[ Parent ]

Very cool, thank you for your service to the community!

by gioele (gioele(daught)sandler(aaaattttt)gmail(daught)kom) on Fri Oct 5th, 2007 at 01:31:22 PM EST
[ Parent ]

You just went all the way to 11 on my cool-o-meter.

"Pretending that you already know the answer when you don't is not actually very helpful." ~Migeru.

by poemless on Fri Oct 5th, 2007 at 01:46:10 PM EST
[ Parent ]

I used to go see movies there when I was in high school. I have some very fond memories of that place.

What did you do there?

by the stormy present (stormypresent aaaaaaat gmail etc) on Fri Oct 5th, 2007 at 01:19:57 PM EST
[ Parent ]

Whoa! LEP, I just figured out that you OWNED IT! I feel like I've just found out that I've been blogging with, I dunno, some kind of celebrity all this time.

The Biograph.

by the stormy present (stormypresent aaaaaaat gmail etc) on Fri Oct 5th, 2007 at 01:28:33 PM EST
[ Parent ]

I was one of the founders and owner-managers. See previous post.
You must have gone to the midnight shows. Where did you live? It sure is a small world.
And I've always wanted to ask you, how did you wind up in Egypt?

Hey, Grandma Moses started late!

by LEP on Fri Oct 5th, 2007 at 01:30:10 PM EST
[ Parent ]

I lived waaaaay out in the sticks in NoVa, way outside the Beltway. The Biograph (and Georgetown in general) was kind of a refuge from the suburban hell where I spent my teenage years. It's kind of sad to go back there now and look at what's happened to the place. It's like a giant shopping mall now.

I ended up in Egypt because I got a job here, that's all. The company I work for transferred me here a few years ago. I really dunno how long I'll stay, or where I'll go next....

by the stormy present (stormypresent aaaaaaat gmail etc) on Fri Oct 5th, 2007 at 01:37:22 PM EST
[ Parent ]

This feels like "old home" week.
My son, who still live in the D.C. area sent me an article last week about the closing of the Dupont Theatres which mentions th Biograph. He sent me the whole article but I'll see if I can dig up the link.

Hey, Grandma Moses started late!

by LEP on Fri Oct 5th, 2007 at 01:42:29 PM EST
[ Parent ]

I was actually thinking about the Biograph recently because I saw that same article in the Post. There are no more art theaters in DC, it seems.

Were you involved with the Biograph in Richmond, too?

by the stormy present (stormypresent aaaaaaat gmail etc) on Fri Oct 5th, 2007 at 01:55:15 PM EST
[ Parent ]

The Biograph in Richmond was ours too. It was always a money loser; Richmond was just too small a town to support an art house. Eventually we gave it to our manager who lasted a few years and then went out of business.

Hey, Grandma Moses started late!

by LEP on Fri Oct 5th, 2007 at 03:41:42 PM EST
[ Parent ]

I still have one business interest left in D.C. and in my office there is this water color of The Biograph.

Hey, Grandma Moses started late!

by LEP on Fri Oct 5th, 2007 at 03:50:34 PM EST
[ Parent ]

There are a couple of large multiplex theatres, run by Landmark, one downtown and one uptown, near Bethesda, that specialize in art films. I haven't seen them but they're big and modern. The Biograph had character, the seat were uncomfortable, your feet stuck to the floor because of all the spilt cokes but everyone loved it; it was like a reliable old shoe where you'd always get your money's worth. I'll have to stop now before I tear up.

Hey, Grandma Moses started late!

by LEP on Fri Oct 5th, 2007 at 04:56:55 PM EST
[ Parent ]

I'll have to stop now before I tear up.

Yeah, me too, actually.

I've been thinking all night about the diary I have to write expressing my gratitude to you for that theater. Maybe you've heard this a thousand times before, but it was really important to me. Really.

So if I ever meet you in person, LEP, dinner's on me.

by the stormy present (stormypresent aaaaaaat gmail etc) on Fri Oct 5th, 2007 at 05:10:02 PM EST
[ Parent ]

Well, I hope you can make it to the next meet up in Paris. I would be most honored to meet you; I admire your sensitive writings. And it's not necessary to express any gratitude. Your contributions here, along with everyone else's have helped me to keep hope and to keep my brain young.

Hey, Grandma Moses started late!

by LEP on Fri Oct 5th, 2007 at 05:26:13 PM EST
[ Parent ]

stormy present (none / 1)

Here's something that might interest you that was sent to me recently from Counterpunch.org.

When Good Drugs Happen to Bad People
Karl Rove, Pothead
By FRED GARDNER
Among the 78,000 pages of Nixon Administration documents recently released by the National Archives was a memo from young Karl Rove to Anne Armstrong, counselor to the President. Rove aspired to head the College Republicans. His memo proposes, among other things, that college Republican clubs show "nonpolitical films for fundraising (e.g. John Wayne flicks, 'Reefer Madness')..." The New York Times asked Rove for a comment and then reported: "The 56-year-old Mr. Rove pleaded forgetfulness. 'God, this is 1973,' he said. 'You work the math. I don't remember it all.'"
What math? The heavy subtraction? 1973 was 34 years ago. Who but potheads thought Reefer Madness was worth watching, let alone showing? Instead of pleading memory loss Rove could have denied to the Times that he, personally, had been into pot. His response reveals an awareness of the essential lightness of the subject. He probably remembers quite well sitting in the old Biograph Theater on M Street in Georgetown, laughing superciliously with the other pot-smoking young Republicans, feeling insightful, maybe not so unattractive, getting the munchies, infatuated with the crowd in power, wondering if he could get close to George Bush's inadequate son and somehow become his advisor...

I think the writer was confusing us with the Key Theatre. We didn't let Republicans in the Biograph.

Hey, Grandma Moses started late!

by LEP on Sat Oct 6th, 2007 at 08:25:18 AM EST
[ Parent ]

Re: stormy present (none / 1)

Do you think that at some point you actually had the pleasure of ejecting a young Carl Rove?

(Perhaps he decided to get even and the last few years have been his revenge on evil lefty cinema managers) ;-)

Any idiot can face a crisis - it's day to day living that wears you out.

by ceebs (ceebs (at) eurotrib (dot) com) on Sat Oct 6th, 2007 at 08:40:33 AM EST
[ Parent ]

Re: stormy present (none / 0)

I feel guilty now.

Hey, Grandma Moses started late!

by LEP on Sat Oct 6th, 2007 at 08:45:16 AM EST
[ Parent ]

Re: stormy present (none / 0)

Well it could have been worse, you could have let him in and spoiled a good seat by contact.

Any idiot can face a crisis - it's day to day living that wears you out.

by ceebs (ceebs (at) eurotrib (dot) com) on Sat Oct 6th, 2007 at 08:55:14 AM EST
[ Parent ]

Here's the link to the Post Article. The Biograph is mentioned 5 paragraphs from the bottom. I have to pick up my kid now so I'll see you later.

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/09/20/AR2007092002633.html

Hey, Grandma Moses started late!

by LEP on Fri Oct 5th, 2007 at 01:49:16 PM EST
[ Parent ]

rg's diary?

'The history of public debt is full of irony. It rarely follows our ideas of order and justice.' Thomas Piketty

by melo (melometa4(at)gmail.com) on Fri Oct 5th, 2007 at 07:21:07 PM EST
[ Parent ]

WHAT TYPE OF PLANT IS IT? (4.00 / 3)

OK, I've got beer now, back to the fun...

Sure is pretty isn't it?

by gioele (gioele(daught)sandler(aaaattttt)gmail(daught)kom) on Fri Oct 5th, 2007 at 11:06:39 AM EST
[ Parent ]

Re: WHAT TYPE OF PLANT IS IT? (none / 0)

Looks like Venus flytrap

I can swear there ain't no heaven but I pray there ain't no hell. _ Blood Sweat & Tears

by Gringo (stargazing camel at aoldotcom) on Fri Oct 5th, 2007 at 10:10:00 PM EST
[ Parent ]

Re: WHAT TYPE OF PLANT IS IT? (none / 0)

Thai purple basil flowers, so tasty and, in my opinion, beatiful...

by gioele (gioele(daught)sandler(aaaattttt)gmail(daught)kom) on Sat Oct 6th, 2007 at 02:25:08 PM EST
[ Parent ]

Hmmm???

by gioele (gioele(daught)sandler(aaaattttt)gmail(daught)kom) on Fri Oct 5th, 2007 at 12:01:38 PM EST
[ Parent ]

More specifically, what could have caused this?

by gioele (gioele(daught)sandler(aaaattttt)gmail(daught)kom) on Fri Oct 5th, 2007 at 12:13:22 PM EST
[ Parent ]

Some extremely determined but short-sighted pigeons ? :-)

Maybe it's because I'm a Londoner - that I moved to Nice.

by Ted Welch (tedwelch-at-mac-dot-com) on Fri Oct 5th, 2007 at 01:13:02 PM EST
[ Parent ]

Nice, very nice... n/t (none / 0)

by gioele (gioele(daught)sandler(aaaattttt)gmail(daught)kom) on Fri Oct 5th, 2007 at 01:16:15 PM EST
[ Parent ]

I take it that this is in Berlin?

Any idiot can face a crisis - it's day to day living that wears you out.

by ceebs (ceebs (at) eurotrib (dot) com) on Fri Oct 5th, 2007 at 01:38:08 PM EST
[ Parent ]

Yes, that's correct...

by gioele (gioele(daught)sandler(aaaattttt)gmail(daught)kom) on Sat Oct 6th, 2007 at 07:05:15 AM EST
[ Parent ]

so it's gunfire damage on the side of the reichstag?

Any idiot can face a crisis - it's day to day living that wears you out.

by ceebs (ceebs (at) eurotrib (dot) com) on Sat Oct 6th, 2007 at 07:43:21 AM EST
[ Parent ]

Something of higher caliber, I'd guess. Budapest is still full of 1944/5 and 1956 gunfire damage, but that's mostly holes of a few centimetres.

_{*Lunatic*, n.

One whose delusions are out of fashion.}

by DoDo on Sat Oct 6th, 2007 at 10:28:46 AM EST
[ Parent ]

probably large Tank main gun, either that or artillery dragged in and fired directly

Any idiot can face a crisis - it's day to day living that wears you out.

by ceebs (ceebs (at) eurotrib (dot) com) on Sat Oct 6th, 2007 at 11:18:39 AM EST
[ Parent ]

Tank main gun, maybe that's too much. Grenade from launcher?

_{*Lunatic*, n.

One whose delusions are out of fashion.}

by DoDo on Sat Oct 6th, 2007 at 11:24:05 AM EST
[ Parent ]

Yeah, something like that... shell or something large.

On the side of the Pergamon Museum here in Berlin...

by gioele (gioele(daught)sandler(aaaattttt)gmail(daught)kom) on Sat Oct 6th, 2007 at 02:27:18 PM EST
[ Parent ]

'The history of public debt is full of irony. It rarely follows our ideas of order and justice.' Thomas Piketty

by melo (melometa4(at)gmail.com) on Fri Oct 5th, 2007 at 12:07:20 PM EST
[ Parent ]

Looks like a stylized man/lion of some sort...

Beyond that I'm stumped.

by gioele (gioele(daught)sandler(aaaattttt)gmail(daught)kom) on Fri Oct 5th, 2007 at 12:12:32 PM EST
[ Parent ]

i think you're right...i snapped it in citta di castello, carved into a wall...

looks well-weathered!

it's got a funny louche leer that cracks me up, makes me want to stick a gitane in its gob-

'The history of public debt is full of irony. It rarely follows our ideas of order and justice.' Thomas Piketty

by melo (melometa4(at)gmail.com) on Fri Oct 5th, 2007 at 01:02:11 PM EST
[ Parent ]

ISn't it a guttering spout on a medieval building?

Any idiot can face a crisis - it's day to day living that wears you out.

by ceebs (ceebs (at) eurotrib (dot) com) on Fri Oct 5th, 2007 at 01:39:02 PM EST
[ Parent ]

it looks like it should be, but isn't.

maybe he/she was practicing...

i have seen a bunch that spit out water though, and very loverly they were.

'The history of public debt is full of irony. It rarely follows our ideas of order and justice.' Thomas Piketty

by melo (melometa4(at)gmail.com) on Fri Oct 5th, 2007 at 07:08:19 PM EST
[ Parent ]

WHAT IS IT? (4.00 / 3)

Very obscure - I'll be amazed if anyone gets this:

by ThatBritGuy (thatbritguy (at) googlemail.com) on Fri Oct 5th, 2007 at 12:13:40 PM EST
[ Parent ]

Bubbles!

Very cool bubbles...

by gioele (gioele(daught)sandler(aaaattttt)gmail(daught)kom) on Fri Oct 5th, 2007 at 12:19:56 PM EST
[ Parent ]

Nope. :)

by ThatBritGuy (thatbritguy (at) googlemail.com) on Fri Oct 5th, 2007 at 12:23:31 PM EST
[ Parent ]

Is it a kite or a type of wind-sock or something made of cellophane?

by gioele (gioele(daught)sandler(aaaattttt)gmail(daught)kom) on Fri Oct 5th, 2007 at 12:37:52 PM EST
[ Parent ]

Getting closer with the cellophane.

by ThatBritGuy (thatbritguy (at) googlemail.com) on Fri Oct 5th, 2007 at 12:41:28 PM EST
[ Parent ]

Is it a real image or computer generated image?

by gioele (gioele(daught)sandler(aaaattttt)gmail(daught)kom) on Fri Oct 5th, 2007 at 12:44:26 PM EST
[ Parent ]

Real.

by ThatBritGuy (thatbritguy (at) googlemail.com) on Fri Oct 5th, 2007 at 12:52:52 PM EST
[ Parent ]

OK, I give up...

by gioele (gioele(daught)sandler(aaaattttt)gmail(daught)kom) on Fri Oct 5th, 2007 at 01:28:44 PM EST
[ Parent ]

It's that kind of plasticy stuff that is reflective on one side and see through on the other.

by In Wales (inwales aaat eurotrib.com) on Fri Oct 5th, 2007 at 04:07:40 PM EST
[ Parent ]

That's very nearly it. It's a stick-on decorative rosette - think cards and presents - made out of holographic film, lit from beneath with a light table and taken with an uber-macro close-up.

I though the near-infinite reflections bouncing around inside it were kind of cool, and not an effect I'd expected.

by ThatBritGuy (thatbritguy (at) googlemail.com) on Sat Oct 6th, 2007 at 09:00:02 AM EST
[ Parent ]

Oooh, you've just given me ideas for my own light table - boxed up until my thesis is handed in. Oh I am so harsh on myself...

by In Wales (inwales aaat eurotrib.com) on Sat Oct 6th, 2007 at 02:21:54 PM EST
[ Parent ]

Wow, I thought it might be a hologram of some type, but the lines are so crisp and three dimensional, thought for sure it actually was solid...

by gioele (gioele(daught)sandler(aaaattttt)gmail(daught)kom) on Sat Oct 6th, 2007 at 02:31:32 PM EST
[ Parent ]

Ehmmmm (none / 1)

Superstrings?

by Nomad (Bjinse) on Fri Oct 5th, 2007 at 01:42:15 PM EST
[ Parent ]

Re: Ehmmmm (none / 1)

I don't think my optical zoom goes quite that far. :)

Answer tomorrow (unless someone gets it first.)

by ThatBritGuy (thatbritguy (at) googlemail.com) on Fri Oct 5th, 2007 at 02:17:58 PM EST
[ Parent ]

is it some kind of stained glass coloured with one of those oil based colours floated on water techniques?

Any idiot can face a crisis - it's day to day living that wears you out.

by ceebs (ceebs (at) eurotrib (dot) com) on Fri Oct 5th, 2007 at 02:56:09 PM EST
[ Parent ]

backlit phosphorescent brain salad crystals?

it's so beautiful, doesn't really matter

'The history of public debt is full of irony. It rarely follows our ideas of order and justice.' Thomas Piketty

by melo (melometa4(at)gmail.com) on Fri Oct 5th, 2007 at 07:22:37 PM EST
[ Parent ]

WHERE IS IT? (none / 1)

A bit of a throw-away - obscure again:

by ThatBritGuy (thatbritguy (at) googlemail.com) on Fri Oct 5th, 2007 at 12:15:20 PM EST
[ Parent ]

Re: WHERE IS IT? (none / 0)

Jail?

by gioele (gioele(daught)sandler(aaaattttt)gmail(daught)kom) on Fri Oct 5th, 2007 at 12:25:11 PM EST
[ Parent ]

Re: WHERE IS IT? (none / 0)

It felt a bit like it at the time - but no.

by ThatBritGuy (thatbritguy (at) googlemail.com) on Fri Oct 5th, 2007 at 02:18:22 PM EST
[ Parent ]

Re: WHERE IS IT? (none / 1)

work?

Any idiot can face a crisis - it's day to day living that wears you out.

by ceebs (ceebs (at) eurotrib (dot) com) on Fri Oct 5th, 2007 at 02:53:02 PM EST
[ Parent ]

Re: WHERE IS IT? (none / 1)

Truman Brewery, Brick Lane, at last year's Scope Art Fair.

After doing three big art fairs in one day I'd pretty much lost the will to live, and it seemed like an apt comment on what I'd been looking at.

by ThatBritGuy (thatbritguy (at) googlemail.com) on Sat Oct 6th, 2007 at 09:03:54 AM EST
[ Parent ]

'The history of public debt is full of irony. It rarely follows our ideas of order and justice.' Thomas Piketty

by melo (melometa4(at)gmail.com) on Fri Oct 5th, 2007 at 12:22:04 PM EST
[ Parent ]

The new Eurotribber robot attempting to levitate after someone's alcohol-response extension went wrong !-)

Maybe it's because I'm a Londoner - that I moved to Nice.

by Ted Welch (tedwelch-at-mac-dot-com) on Fri Oct 5th, 2007 at 01:18:08 PM EST
[ Parent ]

nice try ted!

it's an art exhibit, called 'mortadella man'...

it got too big tho', sorry folks

'The history of public debt is full of irony. It rarely follows our ideas of order and justice.' Thomas Piketty

by melo (melometa4(at)gmail.com) on Fri Oct 5th, 2007 at 07:15:18 PM EST
[ Parent ]

this is strangely evocative of the very neat bloodless victim remains in Dexter (the tv series).

Le caoutchouc serait un matériau très précieux, n'était son élasticité qui le rend impropre à tant d'usages.- A.Allais

by armadillos (armadillo2024 (at) free (dotto) fr) on Sat Oct 6th, 2007 at 02:58:13 PM EST
[ Parent ]

'The history of public debt is full of irony. It rarely follows our ideas of order and justice.' Thomas Piketty

by melo (melometa4(at)gmail.com) on Fri Oct 5th, 2007 at 12:49:17 PM EST
[ Parent ]

God 2.01, in a version dreamed up by Bergman and the Tokyo robotics lab. :-)

Maybe it's because I'm a Londoner - that I moved to Nice.

by Ted Welch (tedwelch-at-mac-dot-com) on Fri Oct 5th, 2007 at 01:21:29 PM EST
[ Parent ]

er, no...

it's an artwork short of (dubious) aesthetic value but long on social commentary.

sorta like a metal spider chewing up musicians and spitting out plastic effluvia

i twink it's a meta4 for the music business, but then again...

'The history of public debt is full of irony. It rarely follows our ideas of order and justice.' Thomas Piketty

by melo (melometa4(at)gmail.com) on Fri Oct 5th, 2007 at 08:08:21 PM EST
[ Parent ]

'The history of public debt is full of irony. It rarely follows our ideas of order and justice.' Thomas Piketty

by melo (melometa4(at)gmail.com) on Fri Oct 5th, 2007 at 12:55:27 PM EST
[ Parent ]

I have several one-liners for this one, but I think I'll be discrete and, in the sage words of Jacques Chiraq, I'll "take this opportunity to shut up."
But please, what is it?

Hey, Grandma Moses started late!

by LEP on Sat Oct 6th, 2007 at 11:53:46 AM EST
[ Parent ]

I'll check back in later tonight to fill in the blanks...

Ciao until then...

by gioele (gioele(daught)sandler(aaaattttt)gmail(daught)kom) on Fri Oct 5th, 2007 at 01:33:34 PM EST
[ Parent ]

Click and you'll find out..

You have a normal feeling for a moment, then it passes. --More--

by tzt (tzt) on Fri Oct 5th, 2007 at 04:55:02 PM EST
[ Parent ]

Heh. I'd recognize that anywhere. My stepfather helped design its partner.

by the stormy present (stormypresent aaaaaaat gmail etc) on Fri Oct 5th, 2007 at 05:32:38 PM EST
[ Parent ]

Really???! Wow. I'm a total Apollo program nerd, have been since I was a kid. I used to have a scale model of the LM. And the main reason I went to London the last time was to see and photograph the command module.

You have a normal feeling for a moment, then it passes. --More--

by tzt (tzt) on Fri Oct 5th, 2007 at 07:22:44 PM EST
[ Parent ]

You have a normal feeling for a moment, then it passes. --More--

by tzt (tzt) on Fri Oct 5th, 2007 at 04:58:34 PM EST
[ Parent ]

Ooooooh. Sword. Very pretty.

Katana?

by the stormy present (stormypresent aaaaaaat gmail etc) on Fri Oct 5th, 2007 at 05:01:26 PM EST
[ Parent ]

Close enough.. Iaito, a practice sword.

You have a normal feeling for a moment, then it passes. --More--

by tzt (tzt) on Fri Oct 5th, 2007 at 05:29:59 PM EST
[ Parent ]

It's really obvious to me what this is, but I thought maybe it wouldn't be to everyone, so what the hell...

by the stormy present (stormypresent aaaaaaat gmail etc) on Fri Oct 5th, 2007 at 05:14:02 PM EST
[ Parent ]

It isn't obvious to the rest of us! Is it a buoy on water?

by In Wales (inwales aaat eurotrib.com) on Sat Oct 6th, 2007 at 02:18:38 PM EST
[ Parent ]

I was beginning to wonder if it was just too obvious to bother stating!

Yes, a particular kind of buoy -- extra credit for figuring out what kind.

by the stormy present (stormypresent aaaaaaat gmail etc) on Sat Oct 6th, 2007 at 02:20:44 PM EST
[ Parent ]

Mooring buoy, designating whose spot it is?

Or does it signify that the boat owner is armed and dangerous! ; )

by gioele (gioele(daught)sandler(aaaattttt)gmail(daught)kom) on Sat Oct 6th, 2007 at 02:45:08 PM EST
[ Parent ]

the boat owner is armed and dangerous

Oops, that would be a 357...

by gioele (gioele(daught)sandler(aaaattttt)gmail(daught)kom) on Sat Oct 6th, 2007 at 02:46:28 PM EST
[ Parent ]

It's a marking buoy for a crabpot, also known as a crab trap. The yellow bit is my kayak...

by the stormy present (stormypresent aaaaaaat gmail etc) on Sat Oct 6th, 2007 at 11:35:09 PM EST
[ Parent ]

Where was that photo taken stormy? ( I hope it's not too familiar to call you "stormy" but now I feel that Iv'e known you for 20 years.)

Hey, Grandma Moses started late!

by LEP on Sun Oct 7th, 2007 at 02:15:55 AM EST
[ Parent ]

You can call me anything you like! I took the photo in Maryland.

by the stormy present (stormypresent aaaaaaat gmail etc) on Sun Oct 7th, 2007 at 04:55:45 AM EST
[ Parent ]

We had a big old Chesapeake Bay built wooden boat, for about 12 years. We kept it on the lower Potomac near Leonardtown, Md. If I can dig up a scanable photo I'll post it.

Hey, Grandma Moses started late!

by LEP on Sun Oct 7th, 2007 at 05:17:04 AM EST
[ Parent ]

Un roi sans divertissement est un homme plein de misères

by linca (antonin POINT lucas AROBASE gmail.com) on Sat Oct 6th, 2007 at 08:26:20 AM EST
[ Parent ]

Is this a photo you took?

Hey, Grandma Moses started late!

by LEP on Sat Oct 6th, 2007 at 08:28:53 AM EST
[ Parent ]

I could have, but my father actually did...

Un roi sans divertissement est un homme plein de misères

by linca (antonin POINT lucas AROBASE gmail.com) on Sat Oct 6th, 2007 at 08:33:17 AM EST
[ Parent ]

ESO?

_{*Lunatic*, n.

One whose delusions are out of fashion.}

by DoDo on Sat Oct 6th, 2007 at 10:35:06 AM EST
[ Parent ]

Hm... no, it's not the ESO ALMA test site, but they sure look like a sub/millimeter telescope array.

_{*Lunatic*, n.

One whose delusions are out of fashion.}

by DoDo on Sat Oct 6th, 2007 at 10:55:48 AM EST
[ Parent ]

Yes indeed. A millimetre radiotelescope interferometer...

It's the one in France, actually. It's 20 years old nowadays...

Un roi sans divertissement est un homme plein de misères

by linca (antonin POINT lucas AROBASE gmail.com) on Sat Oct 6th, 2007 at 11:02:05 AM EST
[ Parent ]

Ah, the IRAM PdBI... does your father work there? Or in radio astronomy in general?

_{*Lunatic*, n.

One whose delusions are out of fashion.}

by DoDo on Sat Oct 6th, 2007 at 11:21:55 AM EST
[ Parent ]

Yes, he's been a member of IRAM since before the building of the Plateau de Bure observatory. (he's one of the scientists there). He now is involved in the building of ALMA, testing antennas in the States right now...

I got to go up there a few times, and even to spend the new year's eve there once, before the cable-car accident

Un roi sans divertissement est un homme plein de misères

by linca (antonin POINT lucas AROBASE gmail.com) on Sat Oct 6th, 2007 at 02:09:05 PM EST
[ Parent ]

_{*Lunatic*, n.

One whose delusions are out of fashion.}

by DoDo on Sat Oct 6th, 2007 at 12:38:05 PM EST
[ Parent ]

They look like railway tracks but not quite.

by In Wales (inwales aaat eurotrib.com) on Sat Oct 6th, 2007 at 02:04:14 PM EST
[ Parent ]

Railway tracks after maintenance by private contractor more interested in profits than safety?
N

f8; and be there...

by Nigel CheffersHeard (nigelch(at)cheffers(dot)co(dot)uk) on Sat Oct 6th, 2007 at 04:10:19 PM EST
[ Parent ]

Hehe :-)

It is railway track, I hoped it wouldn't be this obvious... but a special kind: one with Y-sleepers. They are less maintenance-intensive than normal track in tight curves. I know they exist in many places, but the only one example I saw with my own eyes happened to be in the village I lived in in then West Germany.

_{*Lunatic*, n.

One whose delusions are out of fashion.}

by DoDo on Sun Oct 7th, 2007 at 02:33:26 PM EST
[ Parent ]

Ahhh, clever. I wouldn't have guessed they were the sleepers. Great photo!

by In Wales (inwales aaat eurotrib.com) on Mon Oct 8th, 2007 at 02:51:29 AM EST
[ Parent ]

Y-sleepers. They are less maintenance-intensive than normal track in tight curves.

So is that a good or a bad thing?

We have met the enemy, and it is us — Pogo

by Carrie (migeru at eurotrib dot com) on Mon Oct 8th, 2007 at 04:49:36 AM EST
[ Parent ]

This is not my brain... (4.00 / 7)

No photoshopping or other "treatment" involved.

In the long run, we're all dead. John Maynard Keynes

by Jerome a Paris (etg@eurotrib.com) on Sat Oct 6th, 2007 at 12:44:54 PM EST
[ Parent ]

Re: This is not my brain... (4.00 / 2)

That's bizarre. Did they feed it dyed water or is it
* gasp *
GM??

by In Wales (inwales aaat eurotrib.com) on Sat Oct 6th, 2007 at 02:20:19 PM EST
[ Parent ]

Re: This is not my brain... (none / 1)

Brassica oleracea L. convar botrytis L. var.Cruciferae

The struggle of man against tyranny is the struggle of memory against forgetting.(Kundera)

by Elco B (elcob at scarlet dot be) on Sat Oct 6th, 2007 at 02:48:49 PM EST
[ Parent ]

Re: This is not my brain... (4.00 / 2)

Purple cauliflower! Wow, they must have back crossed it with purple cabbage...

As you all may know; broccoli, Brussel sprouts and cauliflower are all, I believe, different phenotypes of the same plant.

Cool...

by gioele (gioele(daught)sandler(aaaattttt)gmail(daught)kom) on Sat Oct 6th, 2007 at 02:37:02 PM EST
[ Parent ]

Re: This is not my brain... (none / 1)

At our local neighborhood market, the organic farmer has the strangest colored vegetables. We have white or yellow carrots, green cauliflower, purple potatoes, and more. All excellent.

In the long run, we're all dead. John Maynard Keynes

by Jerome a Paris (etg@eurotrib.com) on Sat Oct 6th, 2007 at 03:58:16 PM EST
[ Parent ]

Re: This is not my brain... (4.00 / 2)

Someone's brain? :-)

Maybe it's because I'm a Londoner - that I moved to Nice.

by Ted Welch (tedwelch-at-mac-dot-com) on Sun Oct 7th, 2007 at 08:53:31 AM EST
[ Parent ]

Re: WHAT IS IT? (4.00 / 6)

(this is art)

Le caoutchouc serait un matériau très précieux, n'était son élasticité qui le rend impropre à tant d'usages.- A.Allais

by armadillos (armadillo2024 (at) free (dotto) fr) on Sat Oct 6th, 2007 at 02:11:40 PM EST
[ Parent ]

It's art! (oh you gave it away!)
Mirrors reflecting the gallery? Or photos on semi transparent material hanging up?

by In Wales (inwales aaat eurotrib.com) on Sat Oct 6th, 2007 at 02:17:48 PM EST
[ Parent ]

Sort of, if you look closely you'll see that the images of the outside are inverted...

Le caoutchouc serait un matériau très précieux, n'était son élasticité qui le rend impropre à tant d'usages.- A.Allais

by armadillos (armadillo2024 (at) free (dotto) fr) on Sat Oct 6th, 2007 at 02:34:33 PM EST
[ Parent ]

...this is actually a curvy "wall" of fresnel lenses of various sizes stapled together.

in situ:

Le caoutchouc serait un matériau très précieux, n'était son élasticité qui le rend impropre à tant d'usages.- A.Allais

by armadillos (armadillo2024 (at) free (dotto) fr) on Sat Oct 6th, 2007 at 02:37:06 PM EST
[ Parent ]

Interesting. I had guessed lenses of some kind, but wouldn't have thought they were fresnel lenses.

by the stormy present (stormypresent aaaaaaat gmail etc) on Sat Oct 6th, 2007 at 02:41:42 PM EST
[ Parent ]

very interesting!

Hey, Grandma Moses started late!

by LEP on Sat Oct 6th, 2007 at 02:44:55 PM EST
[ Parent ]

PHOTOS AS USUAL (none / 0)

PHOTOS AS USUAL

by In Wales (inwales aaat eurotrib.com) on Fri Oct 5th, 2007 at 02:54:04 AM EST

Re: PHOTOS AS USUAL (4.00 / 5)

My Sister's dog, Dylan, whining to be let inside while we were cooking.

by In Wales (inwales aaat eurotrib.com) on Fri Oct 5th, 2007 at 02:57:32 AM EST
[ Parent ]

Re: PHOTOS AS USUAL (4.00 / 2)

Cruel world! :-)

by Fran on Fri Oct 5th, 2007 at 02:59:57 AM EST
[ Parent ]

Re: PHOTOS AS USUAL (4.00 / 4)

More construction in Cardiff.

by In Wales (inwales aaat eurotrib.com) on Fri Oct 5th, 2007 at 02:59:09 AM EST
[ Parent ]

An unusual usual fro esHher. "So there!" (4.00 / 3)

Hey, Grandma Moses started late!

by LEP on Fri Oct 5th, 2007 at 03:52:16 AM EST
[ Parent ]

by FarEasterner on Fri Oct 5th, 2007 at 05:55:32 AM EST
[ Parent ]

snow puppy

'The history of public debt is full of irony. It rarely follows our ideas of order and justice.' Thomas Piketty

by melo (melometa4(at)gmail.com) on Fri Oct 5th, 2007 at 12:24:01 PM EST
[ Parent ]

Re: PHOTOS AS USUAL (4.00 / 2)

'The history of public debt is full of irony. It rarely follows our ideas of order and justice.' Thomas Piketty

by melo (melometa4(at)gmail.com) on Fri Oct 5th, 2007 at 12:46:13 PM EST
[ Parent ]

next life...

'The history of public debt is full of irony. It rarely follows our ideas of order and justice.' Thomas Piketty

by melo (melometa4(at)gmail.com) on Fri Oct 5th, 2007 at 12:52:05 PM EST
[ Parent ]

Animals... (4.00 / 4)

Me and the pooch backpacking in the Trinity Alps (my brother took the photo)

Pooch on same trip

Our cat getting frisky with the deck

by gioele (gioele(daught)sandler(aaaattttt)gmail(daught)kom) on Fri Oct 5th, 2007 at 01:14:38 PM EST
[ Parent ]

Re: PHOTOS AS USUAL (4.00 / 5)

Sun setting on Mt. Tam from Richmond, CA, USA

Same shot a little later and with less zoom

by gioele (gioele(daught)sandler(aaaattttt)gmail(daught)kom) on Fri Oct 5th, 2007 at 01:24:38 PM EST
[ Parent ]

Last one for tonight...

Mmmm, rainbow chard stir-fried

by gioele (gioele(daught)sandler(aaaattttt)gmail(daught)kom) on Fri Oct 5th, 2007 at 01:27:59 PM EST
[ Parent ]

Protea (4.00 / 4)

Photo Sharing and Video Hosting at Photobucket

Protea
Drakensberg Mountains, South Africa
March 2007

by the stormy present (stormypresent aaaaaaat gmail etc) on Fri Oct 5th, 2007 at 05:16:04 PM EST
[ Parent ]

Re: PHOTOS AS USUAL (4.00 / 4)

my neighbour

'The history of public debt is full of irony. It rarely follows our ideas of order and justice.' Thomas Piketty

by melo (melometa4(at)gmail.com) on Fri Oct 5th, 2007 at 08:04:39 PM EST
[ Parent ]

Winter sunset in the Chartreuse

Un roi sans divertissement est un homme plein de misères

by linca (antonin POINT lucas AROBASE gmail.com) on Sat Oct 6th, 2007 at 08:28:52 AM EST
[ Parent ]

Chimney effect over a birthday cake. Don't put so many candles in a circle, that's a bad idea..

Un roi sans divertissement est un homme plein de misères

by linca (antonin POINT lucas AROBASE gmail.com) on Sat Oct 6th, 2007 at 08:32:19 AM EST
[ Parent ]

Swans (4.00 / 3)

_{*Lunatic*, n.

One whose delusions are out of fashion.}

by DoDo on Sat Oct 6th, 2007 at 12:22:46 PM EST
[ Parent ]

Hello all, nice to be back from several weeks work and hols. I was fortunate enough to get to stay in this house for two weeks. Pot of tea as the sun comes up, THAT'S LIVING!
< img src="http://www.cheffers.co.uk/VessacksBWsm.jpg">

f8; and be there...

by Nigel CheffersHeard (nigelch(at)cheffers(dot)co(dot)uk) on Sat Oct 6th, 2007 at 03:22:26 PM EST
[ Parent ]

Re: PHOTOS AS USUAL (4.00 / 5)

f8; and be there...

by Nigel CheffersHeard (nigelch(at)cheffers(dot)co(dot)uk) on Sat Oct 6th, 2007 at 03:27:19 PM EST
[ Parent ]

It's a beautiful photo. Where was this taken?

Hey, Grandma Moses started late!

by LEP on Sat Oct 6th, 2007 at 03:44:24 PM EST
[ Parent ]

Porthcurno, extreme SW corner of Cornwall, in England. It is the home of the Minack Theatre, cut out of the cliffs by Rowena Caid. Extraordinary and beautiful place.
N

f8; and be there...

by Nigel CheffersHeard (nigelch(at)cheffers(dot)co(dot)uk) on Sat Oct 6th, 2007 at 03:59:53 PM EST
[ Parent ]

That's gorgeous. I keep meaning to try shooting some landscapes for B&W but always forget.

by In Wales (inwales aaat eurotrib.com) on Sat Oct 6th, 2007 at 03:48:01 PM EST
[ Parent ]

Re: PHOTOS AS USUAL (4.00 / 2)

Thank you, glad you like it. It's a bit prettier than my normal stuff, but hey, I was on hols, so reckon I'm allowed to take snaps!
If you shoot in colour on digital, then convert, you very soon learn all about the previsualisations of Walker Evans and Ansel Adams, and the importance of seeing where the image CAN go. Ansel was originally trained as a concert pianist. He is quoted as saying that B/W printing is just like playing a piece; the negative is just the score, it is up to you to turn it from a so-so rendering into a virtuoso performance.
What you are seeing here is mere chopsticks compared to his stuff.

N

f8; and be there...

by Nigel CheffersHeard (nigelch(at)cheffers(dot)co(dot)uk) on Sat Oct 6th, 2007 at 04:06:10 PM EST
[ Parent ]

I agree with that sort of approach - and like to go further in terms of reworking an image and create photomontages. There is a whole world of possibilities AFTER the photo is taken. So I tend to agree with this writer that Carier-Bresson's approach to cropping (never do it), though laudable in principle (if you can get the framing right, fine) was a bit "rigid":

This all makes obvious one of the conceits of Cartier Bresson's work. He never cropped an image. Every single photograph is a full 35mm frame just as it came from one of his Leicas.
I spent a fascinating few hours with the book looking at hundreds of images, seeing which ones might (to my eye at least) benefit from cropping. Remarkably few, and therein lies part of Cartier Bresson's genius. Within the confines of the 3:2 aspect ratio of the 35mm frame, and working spontaneously with millisecond timing, Cartier Bresson was able to not only see and capture the decisive moment, but to do so while neither excluding anything vital nor including anything extraneous.
I don't hold up this disciplined (if not indeed rigid) approach to framing as being virtuous. In fact I avoid it in my own work, believing that each image wants to have its own unique aspect ratio, regardless of what some manufacturer 75 years ago decided should be the relative height and width of the frame.
http://www.luminous-landscape.com/reviews/bresson.shtml

With more time to reflect on the image, some cropping is often better (for us lesser mortals anyway), just as Adams, while a master of exposure (no, not that kind :-)), reworked the tones in printing.

A link back to general concerns in Eurotrib:

An environmentalist, Adams capitalized on his fame to lobby Presidents Lyndon Johnson, Gerald Ford and Jimmy Carter for better conservation policies.
"They felt they were in the presence of someone who wasn't interested in advancing himself, who wasn't interested in getting elected to something -- someone who simply loved America and loved the American wilderness," said Turnage, who accompanied Adams to visit Ford at the White House in 1975.
Adams' motive, behind his political activism and his work, was simply a love of the beauty around him, according to friends.
http://www.cnn.com/2003/TRAVEL/07/12/adams.show/index.html

Maybe it's because I'm a Londoner - that I moved to Nice.

by Ted Welch (tedwelch-at-mac-dot-com) on Sun Oct 7th, 2007 at 09:30:59 AM EST
[ Parent ]

Blimey, few good thoughts there.
1) The Cartier-Bresson cropping thing: Since I have been at this a good few years, I have simply got better and better at framing my shots at the taking stage. This was pretty necessary before autofocus zooms, which make it much easier. I used to work close in with a 35mm f2 lens, and after a while you can see the frame in your mind's eye before you begin to lift the camera. If you spend a large amount of time practising any technique, you will get pretty good, given enough time. Although I have zooms, my favourite lens for this now is a 35mm f1.4, which allows me to work in very low light and get spectacular differential focus. BUT, you can, of course, shoot rubbish with this lens just like you can with any other...
As for Ansel, he is a true hero not just for his photography, but for his environmental work. I hope I can produce one picture in my lifetime as good as his Mt Williamson, my all time favourite.
The pic above is slightly cropped top and bottom to emphasise the panoramic effect. crude, but effective, je pense...

f8; and be there...

by Nigel CheffersHeard (nigelch(at)cheffers(dot)co(dot)uk) on Mon Oct 8th, 2007 at 03:15:56 PM EST
[ Parent ]

Re: PHOTOS AS USUAL (none / 0)

I do hope you meant "A few good thoughts" :-)

Maybe it's because I'm a Londoner - that I moved to Nice.

by Ted Welch (tedwelch-at-mac-dot-com) on Wed Oct 10th, 2007 at 02:22:55 PM EST
[ Parent ]