Tag Archives: history

Lists

Condensed knowledge for 2007-05-14

Today’s calorie-free serving:

  • Clive Thompson from the NYT has a detailed write-up of what’s involved if small bands want to get their name out there these days. The almost-requisite MySpace page is a given… But while the web makes it easy for them to get their names out there, keeping up with the fans becomes a full-time computer job — just what they were trying to avoid when they became musicians. And at some point, the relationship reaches a plateau. A single human being can only keep up with a limited number of fans before they are overwhelmed. But the fans don’t care, they each want personal interaction. Sounds like a very non-fun experience for the musician.
  • Mandy Sellars in England suffers from a very rare condition called Proteus Syndrome. She will likely lose her legs. The article talks about her desire to experience life, and daily struggles.
  • This is good reading for us IT geeks: Top 7 things system administrators forget to do.
  • The NYT has a great profile of Walt Mossberg. The article not only talks about his career, but also about where things are going in terms of journalism when you factor in this “new media” we keep hearing about…
  • Mental_floss talks about the world’s most wanted (and expensive) poo. It’s ambergris. Yuck.
  • Look At This has posted a full-length movie called “When the Wind Blows“. It’s about an elderly couple who build a bomb shelter. When nuclear war breaks out, they survive, but unfortunately succumb to the fallout radiation while waiting for the government to help them. Here’s a direct link to the video.
  • According to this article, Bill O’Reilly uses old propaganda techniques to bias his listeners toward those he doesn’t agree with. Interesting stuff.
  • A pair of falcons has made their nest in the building of the San Jose City Hall, and they’ve installed a falcon cam for us web visitors. Neat!
  • Some charlatan who claims he’s Jesus Christ incarnate is fooling plenty of people down in Orlando. Don’t these people bother to read the Bible?
  • A brave little terrier saved 5 New Zealand kids from being torn up by violent pit bulls. Unfortunately it ended up so injured they needed to put him to sleep, but the children weren’t hurt.
  • Apparently ceiling height can affect how people think and act. A taller ceiling can make you more creative and artistic. Very interesting stuff!
  • Weirdomatic has a post with examples of old, creepy ads. I don’t know, Max Factor’s beauty micrometer seems reasonable enough, given the need to look fairly perfect on screen. Have a look and decide for yourselves.
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Places

Photos from Rome

In March of 1999 I visited Rome. It was my first trip to Italy and I had a wonderful time. I stayed with my brother, who at the time was on a 3-year fellowship there to do research. He studies myths and religions and does comparisons between deities in various cultures. He also collects folklore: dying traditions and customs. Takes lots of photographs and films them as well. The latter part of his work is exciting. The former puts me to bed. Mille scusi, fratello!

Il mio fratello

Anyway, I had the most wonderful time. Bogdan (my step-brother — he’s pictured above) had his nose buried in dusty books at various libraries in Rome, while I literally walked through the entire Rome on foot, taking photos with my trusty little Canon Elph and consulting the map here and there. The Canon has since become unusable, because APS film is no longer available, but it did help me preserve the wonderful things I saw. Over the years, the photos gathered some dust themselves in my closet, till I finally decided to scan and share them online. Since I don’t have a scanner that will work with APS film, I scanned the photos themselves. I realize that’s a real step down in quality, and given the age of the prints, it really shows, but the digitized photos still serve to convey the beauty and history of the place. Plus, the aged paper gave a nice Sepia effect to the photos that I’d be hard pressed to reproduce in Photoshop.

While I really enjoyed Rome, my experiences with Romans were mixed at best. And I had breathing problems there as well, due to the pollution. But none of that could eclipse the sense of wonder and discovery I had every day as I planned out where I’d go, then get there and take photos. Maybe I’m biased, but I find today’s architecture pathetic. It’s disposable, ugly, flimsy and imitative. Few and far between are the buildings that make a statement. Well, in Rome, as in most European cities, you’ll have no shortage of good architecture. I think that’s what makes them so beautiful.

Here are several of the photos I took during my trip.

Bask in the sun

Walk at night

Classically overdone

Farnese

All mixed up

Expansive

Strike a pose

Pantheon

Center of attention

Piazza Venezia

Congregate

The plight of humanity

 

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Places

History

Taken March 1999 in Piazza Navona, Rome.

Commerce

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Thoughts

Bran Castle up for sale

The UK Telegraph reports that Bran Castle, the temporary residence of Vlad Tepes (aka Vlad the Impaler and Dracula) is up for sale. Its current owner, a descendant of the von Hapsburg family, lives in the US and isn’t interested in keeping it. I remember visiting the castle in 1991, before I came to the States. It was still winter up there, and all of the rooms were freezing cold. Although the castle looks imposing from afar, the interior courtyard is smaller than you might imagine. That’s because the rooms and halls are built right into the walls, which are also very thick.

It’s all beautiful, very beautiful. The location is wonderful, and the building, although old and in need of restoration, is beautiful as well. The place has a melancholy feel about it that puts you in the mood to read old novels. I’d love to photograph it. Maybe I’ll get the chance to visit it once more sometime, and I’ll have a good camera with me. About 500-750 shots of the place would make me very happy.

Apparently the castle draws in about 450,000 visitors a year, so any potential owner would make back (in time) the hefty asking price of $78 million. But still, as a native Romanian, I have mixed feelings about seeing a piece of our history up for sale to anyone. [Found out about this via Neatorama]

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Places

Walking along the Constanta wharf

Constanta, located on the Black Sea, is one of the main cities of Romania. It’s a busy port, and a city with a lot of history. I guess its equivalent here in the States would be Miami. I visited Constanta with Ligia in April of 2003 and took some photos on the wharf, which is a pretty famous spot. It, and the Casino built on it, have been featured in several famous Romanian movies.

The building that now houses the Casino was planned and drawn by a Romanian architect, and built in 1909 in the Art Nouveau style. The architect’s wife drowned in the Black Sea, and he wanted to pay homage to her memory through the majestic building.

Casino Palace

I’d walked along the same wharf as a child, with my parents, many years ago. Revisiting the spot was bitter-sweet, and the cold, damp spring day didn’t make it any sweeter. I’d watched the same concrete embankment as a child, and was fascinated by the fury of the waves breaking against it. That same embankment was still standing in 2003 — the very same stones — although they were now showing their age.

Waves splashing against the embankment

Embankment, embattled

A furious endeavor

Constanta wharf

Before reaching the wharf, we walked along the main street that leads from downtown to the beach, and visited the ruins of an old Roman building which was probably a public bath house at some point. On the hill, homes of the old aristocracy stood as a reminder of Romania’s monarchic past. I for one miss the monarchy. With a king, you know who’s in charge and who’s to blame. Politicians blame each other, blame circumstances, lie and steal — it’s a circus, and no one is ever held accountable.

Ruins of a Roman building

Old aristocratic homes

As we walked off the beach and back toward downtown, we saw this odd building, a mix of modern and old architectural styles.

City buildings

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