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THE COLISEUM MEMORIAL

tcmvegas1 — Thu, 17 Jul 2008 00:33:51 +0000

After the great pyramids in Egypt that hold the pharaohs, The Coliseum Memorial(http://www.tcmvegas.com/) is the world's second themed mausoleum. The Coliseum Memorial provides a unique, one of a kind internment option for high net worth players who want to remain part of the action, even after death. This concept is very appealing to people who don't want to be buried in a traditional cemetery or are looking for something unique and special to memorialize their lives through eternity.All residents of The Coliseum Memorial can have their image and voice immortalized forever in a holographic recording. This recording can be viewed by loved ones and friends forever in one of our private viewing rooms. The messages contain whatever subject matter the resident chooses, and can be one or multiple segments for designated individuals. Guests visiting sit in a "Press Box" like setting overlooking the center of The Coliseum Memorial where they can watch their loved ones participate in a virtual holographic world in a casino atmosphere playing on the floor 24 hours a day. In order to accommodate extended visits of our guests, a café is located in the viewing area. We invite you to thoroughly explore our Website and learn more about The Coliseum Memorial to see the many options available for you and your loved one. Plan for eternity today.

We here at The Coliseum Memorial understand the importance of guest services. Just as our residents have chosen us to look after their every whim for eternity, we will extend this same level of service to their guests as well. We have a complementary coffee and pastry available for visitors in all private viewing rooms, as well as a café where you can enjoy a drink and relax after your viewing. The café has a full view of the virtual casino from the windows. We also offer a gift shop, flower shop and electronic digital services 24 hours a day as we understand the life style of our residents.

Our residents chose The Coliseum Memorial because our commitment to customer service. Residents expected V.I.P. status in life and now command even more respect in their new home. We offer the following complementary services to all of our residents: Internet access with private email address at The Coliseum Memorial capable of pre-programmed auto reply to all, or selected incoming emails to your account, also included 1000MB of electronic digital data storage on our secure main frame computer server facilities for future retrieval.

On the ground floor (http://www.tcmvegas.com/) we have holographic recording studios and a green room for all of our members to use at their convenience. We also offer a very secure lobby vault in the museum area available for all residents to use. This vault is guarded 24/7 and is large enough to store the resident's possessions he or she will need later that might be too big to fit in the resident's suite. i.e.: art, precious metals, personal collectibles, maybe even your car.

The Coliseum Memorial is located on 10 acres on South Buffalo Drive, 4.6 miles from the famous Las Vegas Strip in Nevada (USA), just 10 minutes from the biggest casinos via our hearse limousines. In order to accommodate extended visits of our guests, a café is located in the virtual casino viewing area on the second floor, along with a gift shop and florist. The House of light holographic recording studios are located on the first floor along side the V.I.P. underground entrance.
Standing 100 feet tall with 75,000 sq ft of interior space, the Coliseum Memorial is destined to be a monument to last a millennia. Only the finest natural materials are used. Over 100 tons of cut granite, marble and jade are the foundation of the Coliseum. With some material's sourced worldwide to insure the quality and diversity our residents expect. The entrance hall is designed 210 feet long with 1.5 in. thick, cut 3x3 ft. panels of green jade on the left and white jade on the right, 35 feet high. The Coliseum experience is to be remembered not only for the precious stones and metals used in construction but also the attention to detail, in lighting, sound and scent, to deliver a seamless and enlightening experience.

The Coliseum Memorial uses state of the art holographic technology and will continue updating this area as advances are made. Your digital images will be stored virtually forever on our secure servers, with back-up files in our record vault (a sample of the current technology can be viewed below), giving us access to update this imagery as technology advances HOLOGRAPHIC SERVICES Each resident receives one fifteen (15) minute custom life size personal hologram recording with the purchase of his/her membership. This digital recording can be made at anytime prior to occupancy and additional holographic time can be purchased at any time. This private hologram can be divided into segments for viewing at specific pre-selected dates in the future. All intended recipients of private holographs are assigned a secret code enabling them to access only their intended message (s). VIRTUAL HOLOGRAPHIC WORLD / CASINO In the center of The Coliseum Memorial, guests can view a virtual holographic casino continuously showing our residents participating in selected gaming activities in a role he or she enjoyed in life. Through pre-arranged planning, the resident can choose the character in the hologram show he wants to play and can even change characters at any time. Of course all of our residents' birthdays are celebrated with a special show and their name in lights on the Kino board.To contact: http://www.tcmvegas.com/Home/ContactUs.aspx

HOLOGRAPHIC VIEWING ROOMS The Coliseum Memorial also has free private viewing rooms available for friends and loved ones of the residents. These private living room styled areas permit family and friends to see and hear the resident in a hologram delivering a message or advice to those pre-selected by the resident. The virtual casino area is designed to be viewed by the guests from the café located on the second floor, and although there's lots of action at the virtual casino, the voices are kept to a whisper out of respect.
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After the great pyramids in Egypt that hold the pharaohs, The Coliseum Memorial is the world's second themed mausoleum। The Coliseum Memorial provides a unique, one of a kind internment option for high net worth players who want to remain part of the action, even after death. This concept is very appealing to people who don't want to be buried in a traditional cemetery or are looking for something unique and special to memorialize their lives through eternity.All residents of The Coliseum Memorial can have their image and voice immortalized forever in a holographic recording. This recording can be viewed by loved ones and friends forever in one of our private viewing rooms. The messages contain whatever subject matter the resident chooses, and can be one or multiple segments for designated individuals. Guests visiting sit in a "Press Box" like setting overlooking the center of The Coliseum Memorial where they can watch their loved ones participate in a virtual holographic world in a casino atmosphere playing on the floor 24 hours a day. In order to accommodate extended visits of our guests, a café is located in the viewing area. We invite you to thoroughly explore our Website and learn more about The Coliseum Memorial to see the many options available for you and your loved one. Plan for eternity today.
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stariy rus

mutehead — Wed, 16 Jul 2008 13:29:26 +0000

[caption id="attachment_117" align="aligncenter" width="300" caption="in happier times"][/caption]

Today, after class and a quick errand, I decided to take advantage of my relatively free day and the stifling weather to go back to Red Square during working hours to visit Lenin et al. First, I dropped off my bag then queued up for tickets to the Kremlin and the Lenin Mausoleum. Then the magic happened. First, it turns out that at the moment (what with not having received a paycheck since May), I was too cheap to splurge on a 350RR ticket to see everything. Luckily, the Lenin Mausoleum was actually free, but being free meant that I didn't have to queue up for half an hour roasting to death.

With that information in hand, I tried to hurry off to Lenin's Mausoleum as quickly as possible only to discover that the first three or four entrances I tried were blocked off. No reason. Just because. So basically, I had to walk around the Kremlin - this, after waiting for the Italian president/motorcade to skedaddle out of the Kremlin - pretty much just to the left of St. Basil's. If you're familiar with the area, you'll know that it's a bit of a bitch, especially when it's hot. If you're not familiar with that area, it's a bit of a bitch, especially when it's hot.

But finally I arrived at Lenin's Mausoleum...only to discover that you can't just go up and say hello. You have to queue up half a mile away (probably exaggerating, but just a little). The nice thing is that most of the people in the queue were those that had to turn in bags and cameras - Lenin no likey such things in his casa - so, since I was without, I just buzzed on past the crowd and went through security tout de suite.

From there, you get to walk along the Kremlin wall to see who was buried there, and so forth. I took pride in the fact that I knew about half of the people there, although I didn't see John Reed's plaque anywhere. (If you don't know who that is, his bio is available at your convenience on Google) Then, at long last, you climb inside the mausoleum. This was actually the most adventurous part of the trip because it's so effing dark inside that my night-blindness was kicking in and so I navigated the steps about as quickly as the old woman in front of me. Once you get inside the actual room, though, the light is sufficient. But then there you are staring at Lenin who, lest we forget, is now really, really old. It's weird to think of the body as being real since it looks like a wax figure - an effect maybe even highlighted by the glass that encases him. The only sucky thing is that you can't take pictures. The police will even check your cell phone, so don't try that one. Afterwards, when you come out, you're practically blinded by the light of the sun, which was very nearly shining today.

I say - with no regrets whatsoever - that I also felt compelled, afterwards, to down a cheeseburger from the nearby McDonald's. This, despite my having boycotted the Golden Arches since October 1981 for making food that tastes and smells like garbage. In the end, the boycott lived on because the crowd inside was just too damn much, so I went to Sbarro's (next door) instead. Honestly, I don't know what's worse to have on Kremlin grounds - McDonald's (the epitome of capitalism) or Sbarro's (the epitome of crappy mall food).

I even ventured inside the two small souvenir shops just outside the Kremlin proper. I was surprised to find a couple of things reasonably priced, but mostly it's the same kind of kitschy junk you can find on Stariy Arbat at roughly the same price. So needless to say, I didn't indulge.

I didn't go inside St. Basil's Cathedral in part because you had to pay (280RR if you want to take pictures, also) but also because my camera was tucked away in my bag all the way on the other side of town. Or so it seemed in the heat. Besides, I've got another 51 weeks here, so no need to rush it.

Still, what a fantastically surreal experience all in all. I have to say that in light of everything, I think the best part was actually seeing the plaques of those who were buried inside the Kremlin wall. Sorry Lenin. And while I'm thinking of it, the funniest things I saw were two lookalikes. One of Lenin and one of Tsar Nicholas II. Both were chatting very amiably. I'm guessing not about politics. Damn that I didn't have my camera!

(Thankfully, someone else grabbed this pic and posted it online. My thanks! It was too surreal not to share.)

At The Gate

foytography — Wed, 02 Jul 2008 18:16:49 +0000

Close-up of Getty mausoleum gate. Graceland Cemetery
Chicago, Illinois

Can I Visit the Seven Wonders of the World?

Nate Desmond — Tue, 01 Jul 2008 14:41:57 +0000

Only one of the Seven Wonders of the World still exist. The Great Pyramid of Giza is the last surviving wonder. Do you know what the other six are?

1) King Nebuchadnezzar II built the Hanging Gardens of Babylon on the banks of the Euphrates River.

2) Pheidia, a sculptor, built a immense gold statue of Zeus, one of their false gods, at Olympia.

3) The temple of Artemis was erected in Ephesus, a city in Asia Minor.

4) The Mausoleum at Halicarnassus was a huge tomb constructed for King Maussollos.

5) The Greeks erected The Colossus of Rhodes in honour of Helios the sun-god, one of their many false gods.

6) The Lighthouse of Alexandria was built on the island of Pharos.

7) And of course, the Great Pyramid of Giza was built for Pharaoh Khufu near the ancient city of Memphis.

Della Storia Classica (Some Classical History)

oudeis23 — Mon, 30 Jun 2008 02:59:29 +0000

I think every once in a while, I will write about some of the more interesting stories that come down to us from Antiquity. We owe a lot to the Classical world. Due largely to the success Western culture has had in disseminating itself, and the fact that the Western ethos is grounded in Greek, Roman, and Near Eastern antiquity, it would seem that learning about these cultures would then tell us about the mores and maybe the future course of our own respective cultures.

Following the disastrous rule of the Flavian Emperor Domitian (81-96), the Senate installed Nerva as Emperor in 96 AD. The old, feeble Nerva served only for some 2 years before his death, and designated as his successor Marcus Ulpius Traianus, or Trajan. Trajan had, aside from Augustus himself, perhaps the most successful rule of any imperator, with the empire reaching its largest extent under him. Numerous public welfare programs were initiated due to him, and subsequent generations would hope that their own emperors might be "melior Traiano", or "better than Trajan". Ruling from 96 to 117, Trajan was succeeded by Publius Aelius Hadrianus, or Hadrian.

The Forum Transitorium, located in what was an alleyway between the Forum of Augustus and the Templum Pacis (the Imperial forum of the Flavians), was started by Domitian and completed by Nerva ca. 96. Seen here are (usually for an Imperial forum) motifs depicting women in daily, domestic activities, images Domitian likely included due to his institution of domestic reforms aimed at increasing the efficiency of women in the household.

Hadrian was the second non-Italian emperor (after Trajan himself), born, like Trajan, in the province of Hispania, which encompasses the Iberian Peninsula. Although an early favorite of Trajan, and in fact a relative of his, Hadrian was never formally adopted as his successor. In Imperial Rome, political succession was determined through adoption, which entailed all hereditary rights. As a result, the announcement of Trajan's death was delayed by several days, and in the meantime, Trajan's wife (Plotina) and Hadrian concocted and promulgated the story that he had been formally adopted by Trajan on the latter's deathbed.

Hadrian ruled from 117 to 138, after which he was succeeded by Antoninus Pius. Hadrian was a prolific builder (and an amateur architect whose own eccentric designs were derided by Vitruvius himself), and his monuments constitute some of the best preserved Roman ruins that we have. Most prominent of these are the Pantheon and Hadrian's Mausoleum. The Mausoleum is situated on the east bank of the Tiber River, in an area known as Trastevere (beyond the Tiber in Italian) almost directly across from the Mausoleum of Augustus, a clearly symbolic gesture by which Hadrian sought to connect his legacy to that of the first Emperor.

The modern site of the Mausoleum of Augustus, located just off the west bank of the Tiber River. Built between 28BC-23BC, it is also in the Campus Martius

The form of Hadrian's Mausoleum closely echoes that of Augustus's, both being cylindrical in shape, and both being adorned with gardens above, this harkening back to the old Etruscan tumuli (this a move employed by Augustus to connect himself with the old Italic hero Aeneas).

The Mausoleum of Hadrian. Built around the time of Hadrian's death, it was converted into a fortress towards the end of the Western Empire, around which time its contents (the ashes of numerous Emperors) were sacked by invading forces. It was, near the onset of the Renaissance, converted into an Papal fortress and was fitted with a secret passageway linking it to St. Peter's. Today, it is known in Italian as Castel Sant'Angelo, or the Castle of Saint Angelo

Hadrian's homage to Augustus is further reiterated in the Pantheon. The Pantheon, completeled around 125 AD is in fact the third temple to be built upon the site (the previous two having burnt down), which in Hadrian's time was in the Campus Martius. In fact, the inscription upon the entablature of the current building reads "M·AGRIPPA·L·F·COS·TERTIVM·FECIT", or "Marcus Agrippa, son of Lucius, consul thrice, built it", an homage to Augustus's second-in-command, Marcus Vipsanius Agrippa, who built the original Pantheon.

The Pantheon, completed around 125 AD. Note the inscription on the frieze, suggesting that Agrippa was in fact the builder of the current structure. Immediately below it, on the architrave (and nearly invisible even to an observer in situ), an inscription indicates that Septimius Severus performed renovations to the structure around 200 AD. Clearly, he was less humble than Hadrian. In fact, Septimius Severus wasn't humble at all, dedicating a temple to his family at his Imperial forum in Leptis Magna—his hometown in modern day Libya—while he was still alive. But that's for another time.

Note: All photo credits are to myself

... AND A TRIP TO INDIA.

Ford — Mon, 30 Jun 2008 02:57:52 +0000

I decided to give Agra, India a try and take a couple of pics of the Taj Mahal. To me, it's one of the most magnificent buildings on Earth.

The building's history is quite interesting. It is a mausoleum built under order of the Mughal Emperor Shah Jahan in memory of his wife Mumtaz Mahal. Ustad Ahmad Lahauri was considered the principal designer, and the building was finally completed in 1648.

Soon after the Taj Mahal was completed, Jahan was deposed by his son Aurangzeb and put under house arrest at nearby Agra Fort. When Shah Jahan died, his son buried him in the Taj Mahal next to his wife.

In fact, if you'd like to learn more about the Taj Mahal, you can visit this site for loads more information.

As for the nearby city - Agra - here a picture of the city center just south of the Taj Mahal.

Happy trails!!

If you can survive death, you can probably survive anything.

Office Plant

Oli — Fri, 27 Jun 2008 04:28:55 +0000

Perception fades to opaque
Linguistic context is paradox
There's not much I can categorize
Feet crunching on pavement
Rocks are nutritious
There's not much to see here
Tiles in the mausoleum
And patches of grass outside
Children laughing somewhere
Or paying homage, it's all quite blurry now

The Office as a Burial Ground: Undated Image of a Writer

santitafarella — Thu, 26 Jun 2008 04:50:50 +0000

In an oral culture you are with others in groups, and you hear living voices, and you are frequently out of doors and engaged with the world. In a literate culture you value withdrawal from groups and withdrawal from voices, and are indoors a lot. You want to be alone. You want to disengage from the world, and step aside from the world, and set it onto a table top for examination at your liesure. You want quiet behind your mausoleum of desk drawers, behind the stacks of papers that surround you like stacks of burial shawls waiting their turn for your attention, only to rise over you and bury you. You are the writer who has lost control of your office. You are like the bee that has come through a window and cannot find its way out again, worrying the tables and the walls and substituting the flower it finds on the wallpaper for the living flower it has lost in the warm buzzing garden, which you are.

Time Out For A Picnic

foytography — Tue, 24 Jun 2008 18:46:57 +0000

Danialle and I met-up with a photographer sent by Time Out Chicago magazine at Rosehill Cemetery and Mausoleum on Sunday to shoot some images of us for an upcoming article about our Chicago Cemetery Tour. We started the shoot in front of John G. Shedd's family crypt, in the heart of the mausoleum, and then went outside to do some corny walking through the cemetery shots. It was strange to be on the other side of the glass, but totally a blast.

(photo by Danialle Foy)

Later that day, we went to Graceland Cemetery with some friends and family for a picnic on Chicago architect Daniel Burnham's island gravesite. After the picnic, we all took a stroll around the cemetery lake to view the monuments that surround its parameter.

My nephew put some miles on his feet, running erratically throughout the graveyard with his magic wand (a stick). The image below is of him visiting the grave of William Kimball, founder of the Kimball Piano and Organ Company.

Della Storia Classica (Some Classical History)

oudeis23 — Sat, 21 Jun 2008 07:15:52 +0000

The Forum Transitorium, located in what was an alleyway between the Forum of Augustus and the Templum Pacis (the Imperial forum of the Flavians), was started by Domitian and completed by Nerva ca. 96. Seen here are (usually for an Imperial forum) motifs depicting women in daily, domestic activities, images Domitian likely included due to his institution of domestic reforms aimed at increasing the efficiency of women in the household.

The modern site of the Mausoleum of Augustus, located just off the west bank of the Tiber River. Built between 28BC-23BC, it is also in the Campus Martius

The Mausoleum of Hadrian. Built around the time of Hadrian's death, it was converted into a fortress towards the end of the Western Empire, around which time its contents (the ashes of numerous Emperors) were sacked by invading forces. It was, near the onset of the Renaissance, converted into an Papal fortress and was fitted with a secret passageway linking it to St. Peter's. Today, it is known in Italian as Castel Sant'Angelo, or the Castle of Saint Angelo

The Pantheon, completed around 125 AD. Note the inscription on the frieze, suggesting that Agrippa was in fact the builder of the current structure. Immediately below it, on the architrave (and nearly invisible even to an observer in situ, indicates that Septimius Severus performed renovations to the structure around 200 AD. Clearly, he was less humble than Hadrian. In fact, Septimius Severus wasn't humble at all, dedicating a temple to his family at his Imperial forum in Leptis Magna—his hometown in modern day Libya—while he was still alive. But that's for another time.)

Note: All photo credits are to myself

Getting your head around big numbers

克莱夫 — Wed, 11 Jun 2008 15:19:39 +0000

Everything in China happens on a big scale. This should be no surprise when bearing in mind that one fifth of the world's population live there, but this snippet of information usually slips past without our accepting or realising its implications until we come face to face with it.

Some of the most arresting features of the world are located in China, the Taklamakan Desert, one of the coldest and driest deserts on earth, the Karst Mountains, one of the most stunning scenic spots in existence, the Changjiang, the third longest river in the world [Yangtze to most of the world] but it is when we get down to looking at some of the man-made features that we really start to sit up and take notice. The trend started many centuries ago when the ruling dynasty decided to build a wall to keep out the uncouth louts from the North. It took a while to build the wall and it was redesigned, re-jigged, re-hashed, restored and rebuilt many times before we finally ended up with the Great Wall of China, a fortified structure extending 6,400 kms from Shanhaiguan in the east to Lop Nur in the west. Qin Shi Huang, the emperor who brought all the little bits of China under one rule [bashing people around doesn't quite equate with the word 'unite'] liked to do things in a big way and planned and built the biggest mausoleum for himself, ever. And the trend has continued ever since. The world's first long distance canal, the Grand Canal, coupling Hangzhou in Zhejiang Province with Beijing was started in the 5^th century BC but was not extended into its modern day form until the 6^th century AD. It is 1,770 kilometres long, contains 24 locks and is still in use for carrying commercial traffic. By comparison canals in Britain were not built in a serious way until the 17^th century and the difference in scale is striking. For example the Grand Union Canal, connecting London with Birmingham, built in the 18^th century, is 220 kilometres in length, contains 166 locks and on average is only 6 yards wide.

In more modern times the structures built in China are even more ambitious. Earlier this year, after less than 5 years construction work, the Hangzhou Bay Bridge 36 kilometres long, connecting the cities of Shanghai and Ningbo was completed and opened. This will be the world's longest sea bridge and the second longest, overall. The Chinese people love tall buildings and they are to be found in every city, some are quite likeable, some grotesque and others just a little quirky as every architect tries to leave his mark on the world. Probably two of the best known modern buildings in China are both found in the Pudong district of Shanghai, the Oriental Pearl Tower, the third tallest TV tower in the world at 468 metres high, and the Jin Mao Dasha, the fifth tallest building in the world at 420 metres high, but one of the strangest is the new CCTV Headquarters in Beijing, still under construction - it looks as if it will never stay upright. While we are on the topic of tall buildings the very tallest in the world, at the moment, is the Taipei 101 building, built in Taiwan, with 101 floors – and also rated, by some, to be one of the ugliest buildings of the world, click here. When I first visited Shenzhen, a very modern city in the south of China, it had no subway or metro system, but when on returning only two years later a system was in use and was being extended further. Some things take a while to build, such as the Great Wall and the Grand Canal, but other things in China can be done on a scale and at speeds which most of us are just not familiar with.

One of the best known projects to be built is the Three Gorges Dam which was started in 1993 and will not be fully complete until 2011. The dam, which is 2,300 metres long, 101 metres high, 115 metres thick at the base will produce a lake 660 kilometres long, approximately 1.5 kilometres wide and holding 39.3 cubic kilometres of water. To do this more than 4 million people have been relocated so they don't go under the water; many small towns and innumerable villages plus over 1,000 sites of archaeological or historical interest will be lost. But navigation through the Three Gorges on the Changjiang will be easier and the power station will generate 22,500 megawatts of electricity. Before we leave this item and glibly skip forward to the next wonder of the world, just imagine trying to persuade 4 million people to move house in the UK; that's more than the population of Glasgow, Birmingham, Wolverhampton, Manchester and Sheffield all rolled up together – think about it for a moment.

How many people in China live in big cities? Visiting any city in China you might be excused for thinking that everyone lives there, the streets are so busy with people, and most Chinese cities seem big by comparison with western counterparts but it isn't quite as might be expected. The Chinese definition of a big city is a population centre of 5,000,000 people or more – and there are more than 10 of these in China! Although there has been a substantial shift in the population the majority still remain in rural areas, towns and small cities. Actual population figures vary according where they are obtained and how they are calculated in the first place, but possibly the largest of the municipalities, of which there are four [Beijing, Shanghai, Chongqing, Tianjin], is Chongqing which is reputed to have a population of approximately 30,000,000 and an inner city population of between 4,500,000 and 12,000,000; this figure this is disputed and varies according to where the boundary between the urban area of Chongqing and the rural area is set.

On the sporting front it seems that if you give any game or activity to the Chinese it will come back twice as big and complicated as it was before, if not more. Take a simple tug-o'-war, stage it in a Chinese city and it isn't quite so simple any more, as we saw earlier this year when an event, involving two teams of 10,000 people each, a rope 1 kilometre in length and weighing 3 tons, was held in Changsha. Or a simple track event. I'm sure everyone knows what a 3-legged race is, a feat of cooperation between pairs of runners performed at a moderately quick pace. Not content with that the Chinese have come up with a 21-legged version of the race, which transforms a relatively sedate activity into something with the potential to break several limbs simultaneously should anything go wrong.

Returning to natural events, the recent disaster in Sichuan has involved some figures which are quite numbing. The number of people dead and missing is bad by any standard but these are small when compared with casualty lists and the numbers who are now homeless – more than 300,000 injured, and more than 5,000,000 people displaced. Five million; that is more than the population of the Republic of Ireland. One of the problems to be dealt with during the aftermath was the danger posed by earthquake-lakes and in one instance approximately 1.9 million people had to be moved to safer ground – that's the population of Dublin plus a few more, shifted in one move to solve one small part of the problem. Last year the UK was beset by floods unseen before. No one doubts it cost a lot of money and was a real disaster for those directly affected. There was certainly a lot of noise made about it but I'm not sure it ranks the same as a disaster on a Chinese scale; 8 people died and 55,000 homes and other properties were damaged. If things were bad enough for 8 people to die and the population to get hot under the collar about it, how bad must it be for more than 60,000 to die and 5,000,000 to lose their homes? For up to date figures on casualties and how things are progressing, click here.

When China was an enclosed and inward looking nation none of this mattered to the rest of the world but now that it has chosen to interact what goes on in the Far East starts to matter a lot – and in a very personal way too. While China remained self-sufficient it made very little impression on the rest of the world but now there is a demand from within China for imports this has an effect. Remember, this is 20% of the world all under one government. Importing enough rubber boots to keep the population happy would have a big effect on everyone else i.e. no one else would have rubber boots for that year, there simply isn't enough rubber in the world; but this is hypothesis, how about sticking to reality? In the days before China began importing oil the price of petrol was relatively steady, now that China is buying up supplies the price is rising. There are other factors involved too, but China is one of the major influences. This year, 2008, will probably be the last year that China is self-sufficient in food, this is due to rising expectations of the Chinese population and an increase in demand for higher living standards. Dietary shifts in China have been quite modest and the average Chinese person eats far less meat than any westerner but when that average change is multiplied by one fifth of the world population an overall world change becomes inevitable. If the squeals were loud when petrol prices started to soar, how loud will the noise be when food becomes expensive.

rude awakening

mplimasol — Sat, 07 Jun 2008 01:48:00 +0000

(http://mplimasol.blogspot.com/)

i think that by now, most people are familiar with the story of the 78 year-old man hit-and-run that was reported yesterday afternoon in connecticut. if, however, you've been living under a happy little rock like some oblivious hermit crab, you can see the video, courtesy of cnn, here.

i'll allow a pause for all of that to settle in.

one of the things, according to ben stein's "expelled," a movie that flays open the attack on intelligent design in the scientific community, that supports the idea that we are not purely evolved beings (at least not "purely evolved" in the darwinian sense) is our capacity to care for others. in the wild, animals of the same species recognize other animals as either part of their same species or different - if they determine that they are of the same species, then the possibility for help, care, or concern to be extended to the animal remains. if, however, the animal is determined as being unlike the species, then that animal is determined as either prey or predator, and is dealt with accordingly, without care or compassion. suppose a brown bear cub has been attacked and is left laying in the middle of a meadow to bleed to death. a pack of wolves roams by and discovers the cub huddled in a heap, trying to conserve its waning body heat. the wolves quickly determine that the bear cub is not one of its own, and devour what's left of the cub before moving on in their daily trek.

humans don't operate alongside the rules of the wild, however. we interact with people of different cultures and races - different "species," effectually - on a daily basis. we see people giving away surplus clothing and food to people on the other side of town whom they've never met. we see people traveling hundreds of miles to deliver medical aid to areas devastated by natural disasters. we see people devoting their entire lives to saving those of cats, dogs, bunnies, birds, and horses. the fact that we can look at someone, or something, as different from us, and yet respect that it has a right to life, shelter, food, water, the same as we do, suggests that we aren't truly decedents from some animal species. the fact that we aren't automatically killing every single newcomer that moves into our town shows that we have something that our close animal cousins do not. animals are unable to express compassion for anyone but their own kind. humans, however, are different.

and then you see something like this.

well, humans are supposedly different.

really?

a 78 year-old man gets hit by a car in oncoming traffic while trying to cross the road. the man is hit, twice, and tossed in the air like a limp rag doll. the car does not slow down. the car does not stop. other cars surrounding the accident, they don't slow down, they don't stop. there are people walking around on the sidewalks - none of them stop. an elderly man - a man who has seen wars end, and assassinations take place, and births happen, and new frontiers explored - lies helpless in the middle of a road, paralyzed from the neck down, while traffic rushes past, rustling the fine hairs on his head. throughout the whole ordeal, only 4 people manage to call 911 - despite the fact that in this day and age every child over the age of eight owns a cell phone. but no one thinks to stop, no one manages to help. no one can muster and ounce of compassion out of their rotten, stinking, putrid souls, thick with evil and immorality.

wake the fuck up, people.

someone's grandfather - someone's father - someone's son, brother, uncle, cousin, godfather, husband, neighbor, best friend - was left for dead in the middle of a road after a hit-and-run.

hey, at least with road kill, they make an attempt to pick it up.

i am thoroughly disgusted with humanity.

they say that we always hurt the ones we love, and that it works both ways. well, it works both ways.

seriously, just what the fuck was that? what was that? that's not hate, that's apathy - and apathy is always worse than hate, because at least with hate there is some feeling still left. but if your dog was in place of that 78 year-old man, you wouldn't have treated your dog that badly, and a dog is just another animal, not a human being. you call yourself caring? you call yourself compassionate? how can you sit there and do nothing? how can you stand there and watch something like that happen, and then just go about your merry way as if God has just created a scene from the summer's next blockbuster right in front of your face, just for you? how can you sit on the sidelines as if you're some spectator to the great thrill of some helpless man fighting for his life?

the people of connecticut ought to burn in hell. no, i don't make any apologies. yes, i am glad that God is more forgiving than i, because if i were God i would see to it that each and every one of you cowardly cellphone-carrying fuckers had acidy hot coals shoveled into your bowels every five minutes for the rest of eternity. i would order an army of diseased lepers to cut your limbs apart with rusty butter knives, sliver by sliver. i would harvest the largerst tumors in your blackened, bubbly soul. i would squeeze the pus of every infection in your eyes, the vomit of every virus in your mouth, the blood of every fever in your nose, the stench of every rotting body in your lungs. i would stick you next to the nazis, shoulder to shoulder, in the worst chambers of torture. and the next day i would rouse you from agonizing sleep and make you repeat the same ritual, over and over again into oblivion.

i know that sounds harsh. but it also sounds like justice.

i was listening to the reports on "faux news" this afternoon and listened to some nut-job of a psychiatrist try to explain that "when some people experience traumatic events, one of the coping mechanisms is just to shut off, to say to yourself that 'this isn't happening, this can't be happening.'" but i see through his web of lies and sea of excuses. i guess the next time that i hear that another one of my uncles is dying, i should clap my hands over my ears and walk out of the room shouting "na na na na i can't hear you!" at the top of my lungs all in the name of mental overload. would that be an appropriate response? i'm sure that would really earn the respect of my family and those around me. i'm sure that they would be saying, "well, that's understandable - she's obviously overwhelmed."

get real.

i'd be lucky if i wasn't cold-cocked for behaving in such a disgraceful and immature manner. in fact, i'd have to kick my own ass for pulling a shit act like that. i'd probably have to hang myself after behaving like that, because i wouldn't be able to wake up and get out of bed the next morning with the knowledge of just how much of a vile, spineless shell of evil i truly am.

i just don't buy into that pop-psychology bullshit. to me, it's just an excuse wrapped in a tuxedo - looks nice, but same old shit underneath.

one of the first weeks of the last school year, my dad was dropping us off at akron. we had a lot of stuff in his van because we hadn't managed to move all of it in the previous couple of weeks, so there were things like a tv and a microwave and the like packed in the back. it was a nice sunday afternoon, i remembered - sunny, but not too warm as the september sun showed signs of waning summer. i remember watching a blue corvette convertible - older corvette, probably from the eighties, but still nice enough - creep up on the left and felt forced to make comment as he made his way slowly past. i don't quite remember what it was, something about being flashy, something about how cool the middle-aged man must've thought he was to have the wind blowing through his ever-thinning hair. the comment was made, and the car had passed, and no one thought any more of it.

as we passed the interchange from 71 at lodi to akron and drove eastbound for a few miles, we saw a blue corvette - hey, isn't that the same - cross our field of vision and ride the grass between a divided highway. narrowly missing the traffic in the westbound lane, the car took a major swerve across the eastbound lanes and finally crashed into a row of pine trees that lined the highway. the pine was split clean in half. there were no airbags deployed.

now, we had an excuse. we could just as easily have said, "well, not my problem - come on, we've gotta get this shit to the dorm," but that just wasn't an option. immediately we pulled over to the side of the road and i called 911 while dad ran out of the van towards the totaled corvette. amazingly, the man's wife got up out of the corvette without so much as a scratch (though she was understandably hysterical). my dad jumped over the back of the corvette and attempted to pry the pinned man out of his corvette - the man's head rolled back like a ball on a string.

at this time, a woman had stopped her car near the accident and ran over to console the woman. my dad and another woman tried to revive the man until paramedics arrived - which seemed like an eternity - but returned knowing that the whole thing had been useless.

"he must've had a heart attack at the wheel and lost control of the vehicle. that's probably why they swerved - his wife probably grabbed the wheel and that's when they swerved over into those trees. he was dead when i got there. no air bags, though."

all of these years, i had had this abstract idea of what "my dad works in the medical field" meant. but after the incident, i had a newfound appreciation of it.

although i was pretty shook up from the accident, and cried without prompt for days thereafter, there were several things about it that had comforted me throughout. by the time i had gotten through to 911, they told me that three other people had made a call about it. several cars along the highway had stopped to help. and the countless paramedics and EMTs and police officers that came on the scene arrived in about five minutes from my call. it wasn't an ideal situation, but i felt somewhat comforted in the fact that everything that could have been done at the time had been done in the best way that could have been expected - who knew that a person on the cardiac team would just happen to be driving behind someone who went through cardiac arrest at the wheel? sometimes it's a matter of being at the right place at the right time (riding behind the corvette), but sometimes it's a matter of what you do in the situation that you're put in (dad deciding to stop the van and run to help the man and his wife).

nothing less should have been expected.

so if some psychologist is going to get his weekend bonus by appearing on fox news and stating that people respond to trauma by not responding to it, don't hand me that horse shit. i saw a man die right in front of my face, and my first thoughts were not "oh wow, that's interesting. so how many miles to akron again, dad?" immediately i reached into my purse for my phone and called 911. there's not anything else that i would have done at that exact moment. the thought of carrying on with my normal life at that point in time, that wasn't even an option. in fact, for me to have even entertained such a horrific thought, i would have had to remove myself from the situation, emotionally and physically, and put all of my energy and strength into convincing myself that i did not see what i had seen. there is no guarantee that such an attempt would have even been successful.

and that's why the people of connecticut deserve to burn in hell. to see another human being reaching out his hand and crying out in pain to whomever will listen and to be able to disconnect yourself from that sight fully, as to go on with normal life, requires the complete absence of feeling. so the people of connecticut are cold, unfeeling bastards who are unloved, because it's only the unloved and the unnatural who can behave in such a detached manner.

again, i am reminded of a manics' song from "the holy bible" - which, if you haven't listened to the remastered version in its entirety, you are missing out on an essential musical and political journey. the song, "mausoleum," was written by richey "james" edwards as the quintessential song for victims. here, edwards writes that "life is so silent / for the victims who have no speech / in their shapeless guilty remorse / obliterates your meaning."

obliterates your meaning.

your meaning.

once you realize just how cruel humanity has the capability of being, and that it will willfully exercise that ability for no reason at all, you begin to understand just how futile every single good deed ever done looks when stacked up next to it.

"Mausoleum"

Wherever you go I will be carcass
Whatever you see will be rotting flesh
Humanity recovered glittering etiquette
Answers her crimes with Mausoleum rent

Regained your self-control
And regained your self-esteem
And blind your success inspires
And analyse, despise and scrutinise
Never knowing what you hoped for
And safe and warm but life is so silent
For the victims who have no speech
In their shapeless guilty remorse
Obliterates your meaning
Obliterates your meaning
Obliterates your meaning
Your meaning, your meaning

No birds - no birds
The sky is swollen black
No birds - no birds
Holy mass of dead insect

Come and walk down memory lane
No one sees a thing but they can pretend
Life eternal scorched grass and trees
For your love nature has haemorrhaged

Regained your self-control
And regained your self-esteem
And blind your success inspires
And analyse, despise and scrutinise
Never knowing what you hoped for
And safe and warm but life is so silent
For the victims who have no speech
In their shapeless guilty remorse
Obliterates your meaning
Obliterates your meaning
Obliterates your meaning
Your meaning, your meaning

No birds - no birds
The sky is swollen black
No birds - no birds
Holy mass of dead insect

I wanted to rub the human face in its own vomit...
and force it to look in the mirror

And life can be as important as death
But so mediocre when there's no air, no light and no hope
Prejudice burns brighter when it's all we have to burn
The world lances youth's lamb-like winter, winter

Death Extends It's Hand

foytography — Fri, 30 May 2008 08:25:37 +0000

My brother called me a 12:32a.m. this morning to let me know that grandpa is dead. It was expected. I had rushed to Indiana Tuesday afternoon after getting a call from my brother that grandpa was not doing well and probably wasn't going to make it through. He looked so awful. His blood pressure was declining rapidly; pulse barely readable. He refused to eat and wasn't communicating with anyone -- just laid in his bed in the fetal position.

I rubbed his back and told him not to worry, everything will be ok, don't be afraid -- just let go. I didn't want him to suffer any longer and I don't think he wanted to either.

Memories.

The photograph was taken last weekend at Queen of Heaven Cemetery, in the mausoleum. Hillside, IL

Chicago Area Cemeteries Tour - Part III

foytography — Fri, 30 May 2008 07:28:29 +0000

Note: Added a Chicago Cemetery Tour page to the right-side column. There you will find a brief history behind the tour and a list of cemeteries that I have visited and will be visiting.

Last weekend Danialle and I spent most of Saturday exploring the seemingly never-ending corridors of the Queen of Heaven mausoleum. This place is HUGE -- 3 floors, 30,000 crpyts! Queen of Heaven is a Roman Catholic cemetery operated by the Archdiocese of Chicago; located in Hillside, Illinois, a western suburb of Chicago. Because of it being Memorial Day weekend, there quite a few visitors moving about the mausoleum. The mausoleum contained many sculptures, mosaics and paintings of Catholic saints.

Across the street from Queen of Heaven Cemetery is Mount Carmel Cemetery. It is a Catholic cemetery and operated by the Archdiocese of Chicago, as well. One of the popular attractions for Mount Carmel Cemetery is the Bishop's Mausoleum, the final resting place for the Bishops and Archbishops of Chicago. Most recently, Joseph Cardinal Bernardin was interred here after his 1996 death. Unfortunately, the Bishop's Mausoleum was not open for visitors despite being Memorial Day weekend. Another notable attraction at Mount Carmel is the grave of notorious Chicago gangster Al Capone.

The last graveyard we visited before heading back to Chicago was Chapel Hill Gardens. This cemetery consisted of only bronze memorial plaques set flush with the ground. There were a few section monuments, but nothing much to investigate. Because of this we spent very little time here.

Chicago Area Cemeteries - Part I
Chicago Area Cemeteries - Part II

21

jasmincormier — Thu, 29 May 2008 16:45:20 +0000

This building is owned by the STM (Montreal's public transportation agency) and was probably built around the 50's, just on the onset of the decline of the industrial era.
What we may mistake for poor maintenance and care of the building may very well be in fact intentional, especially when one takes in consideration the vocation of the location.

"21" is the cemetery of the STM.
It is where they put the destroyed and vandalized buses that are of no use anymore.

What monument would be more fitting than this then? When we know they dispose of the machinery here, can we not see this building as a mechanical mausoleum?

Death Becomes Her

urbeautifulphotography — Thu, 29 May 2008 01:02:50 +0000

Having a husband that is just as kooky as I am sure works in my favor. We don't bat an eye when one of us suggests spending every single Saturday and Sunday mornings at the crack of dawn driving all over Cook County to visit graveyards and mausoleums. Thank goodness too.

I have some upcoming events I'm very excited about too! My father has entered his old dump truck in a car show in Indianapolis, IN so I will be photographing that weekend complete with pin-up girls, hot rods, and rockabilly bands! I have also been granted pass to the Air Guitar Championship in June as well!!

Nothing I like more* than rocking out, old muscle cars and photographing so check back soon!! (*also includes: good food, traveling, dinner parties with friends, floating in a river, wine and stinky cheese.)

Samarqand (letzter Tag)

berlinger — Wed, 30 Apr 2008 10:56:13 +0000

Die Sonne in der Wüste ist erbarmungslos. Deshalb nutze ich die Zeit zwischen 14:00 und etwa 16:30 heute, Montag, den 28. April, für eine Siesta. Ich bin nun seit Sonntagnachmittag in Khiva (das liegt im westlichen Teil der Khorazm Wüste, zwischen dem Oxus (Armu Darya) und der Grenze mit Turkmenistan.

Aber zurück nach Samarqand! Am Samstagmorgen gab es zuerst ein gemeinsames Frühstück mit den anderen Hostelgästen. Dort traf ich Claus und Sabine wieder, dadurch wurde das Frühstück ganz nett und lustig (wir unterbrechen uns gegenseitig ständig, wenn jemand was erzählen möchte). Nach dem Frühstück ging jeder seinen eigenen Weg. Ich musste zuerst zum Bahnhof, rausfinden ob ich noch eine Fahrkarte für den Samstagabend kriegen konnte. Am Bahnhof stößt man hier an die Grenzen seiner Geduld. Die Leute drängeln, und Armee Offiziere haben immer das erste Recht ... Aber am Ende hatte ich meine Fahrkarte, wenn auch 3. Klasse (81 Leute auf 36 Liegeplätzen). Das würde vermutlich wohl eine harte Nacht werden ...

Ich wollte den nordöstlichen Stadtteil sehen, da war ich noch nicht. Eine kurze Runde über den großen Bazar war fotografisch lustig und erfolgreich. Auch hier wurde ich oft darum gebeten, Menschen zu fotografieren. Meine Wanderung führte mich zum islamischen Friedhof, denn wie ich wusste, sollte sich dort auch der jüdische Friedhof befinden. Zuvor noch schnell das bekannte Mausoleum besucht (da wieder Claus und Sabine getroffen). Den jüdischen Friedhof hatte ich danach schnell gefunden, ich hatte bloß vergessen, dass es Samstag war und am Shabbat soll man eben jüdische Friedhöfe nicht besuchen (wie in jedem Urlaub bin ich total durcheinander, was die Wochentage betrifft). Das Tor zum Friedhof war denn auch zu. Da ich mehrere Male versuchte, es zu offnen, hörte ich plötzlich leben hinterm Tor. Und siehe da! Eine ganz alte Babuschka ließ mich herein. Nach einer kurzen Führung, von der ich nichts verstand, wurde ich zum Tee trinken eingeladen. Die Babuschka wohnte mit ihrem Sohn in einem einzigen Zimmer, in dem sich 2 Betten, ein Sofa und ein Fernseher befanden. Da Babuschka ständig moslemische Dankeszeichen benutze, hatte ich stark den Eindruck, dass sie und ihr Sohn keine Juden waren (es gibt in Samarqand noch eine ganz kleine Gemeinde). Nach dem Tee bin ich über den Friedhof gegangen (was macht ein Esel dort? Armes Tier, kein Wasser, keine Schatten, ich hatte richtig Mitleid mit diesem Tier). Dabei habe ich mich (als Strafe?) sofort den rechten Arm in der glühenden Hitze verbrannt.

Den restlichen Nachmittag in der Altstadt verbracht, wo ich mehrere nette Porträts machen konnte. Einkaufen für die Zugfahrt erledigt und mich dann im Hostel ausgeruht und auf das Abendessen dort gewartet. Mit Claus, Sabine und Yann herrlich gegessen und viel gelacht! Nachdem wir uns verabschiedet hatten ging es für mich zum Bahnhof, wo ich kurz vor 23:00 eintraf.

Ich vermisse Samarqand, die Stadt ist einfach fabelhaft.

Alter Mann in Samarqand

Das grosse Mausoleum am moslemischen Friedhof

Singende Mutter mit Kind

Dark Knight - Fotos da "recompensa" do ARG!

Silent B — Tue, 29 Apr 2008 18:15:33 +0000

Muito bem, nerds! Como vocês leram no post da Elisa, o prêmio da noite do ARG em São Paulo e várias outras cidades do mundo foi um rolo de filme. O vencedor era instruído a partilhar aquilo com os outros, e foi o que o sortudo londrino fez.

No seu blog, http://chrispresswell.wordpress.com/, o cara colocou MUITAS fotos do rolo, que contém o trailer "editado" pelo Coringa. É simplesmente ANIMAL, minha cabeça explodiu!®

Como são muitas fotos, deixo aqui o link direto pro post do Chris: fotos da recompensa - ARG 28/04

Divirtam-se!

Мавзолей Padre Pio

nickpol — Fri, 25 Apr 2008 17:34:25 +0000

Wie schon bei seiner Heiligsprechung 2002 feierten die Gläubigen auch heuer ihren Padre Pio. (reuters)

Italien hat seinen "Säurenheiligen" Padre Pio ausgraben lassen. Es hat schon etwas von Leichenfledderei und Störung der Totenruhe an sich, was da geschehen ist. Da liegt er in seinem Glasschrein, wächsernes Gesicht und sieht aus als mache er ein Nickerchen, wenn man den ungesunden Teint mal übersieht, welcher einen doch an einen Zombie erinnert.

Für alle die ihn nicht kennen, Lenin, wie er in seinem Mausoleum in Moskau seit über 80 Jahren ausgestellt ist. Ähnlich wie dem "Säurenheiligen", hat er als untote Kultfigur jedoch viel Leid in die Welt gebracht. Seine Fans lieben und bewundern ihn, ganze Generationen haben sein Mausoleum besucht und stundenlang gewartet um an seinen Schrein zu treten. Die Parallelen die sich mir da auftun sind so überraschend nicht. Die katholische Kirche gräbt ihre toten Heiligen wieder aus, ihr Antikommunismus hat sie nicht daran gehindert es den Kommunisten nachzutun. Demnächst, so wird angedroht soll sogar JP2 ausgebuddelt und verglast ausgestellt werden. Vielleicht kann man ja ein paar arbeitslose Konservierer aus Moskau kommen lassen, die umfangreiche Erfahrungen im Einwachsen von Leichen haben, Pio seit 40 Jahren tot, sieht dafür überraschend gut aus, die Konservierer der katholischen Kirche haben einen guten Job gemacht.

Jetzt folgte der ernste Teil der Story.

15'000 Gläubige pilgern zu Padre Pio

Volksheiliger in Glassarg in Süditalien aufgebahrt

Tausende katholische Pilger haben sich in Süditalien versammelt, um dem vor 40 Jahren verstorbenen Padre Pio die Ehre zu erweisen. Die Gläubigen wollen den kürzlich exhumierten und präparierten Leichnam des Volksheiligen besichtigen.

Padre Pio wird im süditalienischen San Giovanni Rotondo in den kommenden neun Monaten in einem gläsernen Sarg ausgestellt. Mehr als 15'000 Besucher werden allein am ersten Tag in der Krypta der Kirche Santa Maria delle Grazie erwartet.

Die Feierlichkeiten begannen mit einer Messe und einer Prozession. Internationale Medien reisten für dieses religiöse Grossereignis an, Fernsehsender berichteten live.

Padre Pio in Italien verehrt

Der Kapuzinermönch und Wunderheiler Padre Pio wird in Italien verehrt, die Bilder des Mönchs hängen in zahlreichen italienischen Häusern, Restaurants und Geschäften. Der als Francesco Forgione geborene Ordensmann lebte von 1887 bis 1968.

Im Alter von 23 Jahren tauchten an seinen Händen, Füssen und der Brust Wunden auf, die an die Kreuzigungsmale Jesu erinnerten. Bereits zu Lebzeiten wurde er wie ein Heiliger verehrt. Im Jahr 2002 sprach Papst Johannes Paul II. Padre Pio heilig.

weiterlesen tagesschau.sf.tv

Chicago Area Cemeteries Tour - Part I

foytography — Thu, 24 Apr 2008 05:18:35 +0000

Bridge leads to an island where architect and urban planner
Daniel H. Burnham is buried.

After reading Graveyards of Chicago: The People, History, Art, and Lore of Cook County Cemeteries by Matt Hucke and Ursula Bielski, the wife and I decided to visit a couple of cemeteries last weekend. We started with Rosehill Cemetery and Mausoleum on Saturday. We both had been there before, but focused our attention on the mausoleum. Rosehill Cemetary is HUGE, we traversed about a 4th of it before succumbing to tired feet and hunger.

On Sunday, we spent 2 and a half hours strolling through Graceland Cemetery and photographing the monuments within. Graceland Cemetery is gorgeous and it was a beautiful day for outdoor photography.

Below is an image from Graceland Cemetery: it is a detail shot of the Crusader statue that marks the grave of newspaper publisher Victor Lawson (1850-1925).

Crusader - Graceland Cemetery, Chicago, Illinois

The following image is a shot of the peak of Peter Schoenhofen's pyramid mausoleum at Graceland Cemetery.

Peter Schoenhofen Tomb - Graceland Cemetery
Chicago, Illinois

Stay tuned for more images of our cemetery excursions.

The Valley of the Fallen

100swallows — Tue, 08 Apr 2008 10:28:56 +0000

At Appomatox, at the end of the American Civil War, the surrender of the Southern armies was unconditional. There was no question of any terms. Yet General Lee made two requests: that his officers be allowed to keep their swords; and that the farmers be allowed to keep their horses.

Grant in his memoirs doesn´t say if he was expecting these requests. But he immediately understood their purpose and granted them. They weren´t concessions; they weren´t even favors. They were measures of sound common sense and leadership. The swords the officers would keep were their dignity. And the horses would be needed to get the men back to work, to re-build the ruined farms and countryside.
It was then spring. There was still time to plow the fields and get a crop growing. This was urgent. Without that year´s cereals there would be certain starvation in the South by winter.

When the Spanish Civil War ended (1939) there were no Republican generals around to surrender the armies and to make requests. They had all fled to France and Portugal. Honor and dignity were still around as a crutch to help men through the horrors of twentieth-century war, and to lean on while facing the firing squad when the war was over. But they were a luxury from another age, not this one.

There was no dramatic surrender scene but the problems facing the country were the same. Tens of thousands of men had nothing to do and no food for themselves and their families. Spain had never had much industry. She couldn´t simply switch on the heavy machinery and start producing again. There was no machinery. She was an agricultural country with her fields in ruins. Grain shipped in from Argentina saved thousands from starvation. That was all the help there was. From the United States there was nothing and there would be nothing for twenty years. The Marshall Plan bypassed Spain.

Franco decided on a surprising government project to employ thousands of men: a mausoleum. It was to stand as a monument to his victory and as a tomb for himself and the soldiers of both sides who died in the war.
The country had no cash and its natural resources were used up. Traditional projects such as dams and roads were out of the question because even cement was scarce. A tomb, a kind of tunnel in a mountain, was probably the cheapest of Franco´s options. There were few overhead costs. No steel was required, no heavy machinery—not even cement. All the stone that was needed would be quarried in the mountains and hauled to the site of the great mausoleum. They would be cut to size and lifted like the stones of the pyramids. Most of the work would consist in chipping away a chamber under the mountain—a kind of negative sculpture.

And so thousands of men hammered away at the mountain and at the roads to the mountain—maybe more stone workmen than had been assembled since ancient times. They were full of ill-will. The huge camps they lived in had the air of prison camps because of the post-war repression. Most of the men had been on the losing side and were stained with guilt. Trials and executions were going on at the time and there were rumors of murders and score-settling. And the firm establishment of Franco´s reign made their future look very bleak.

The Valle de los Caídos, in the mountains near Madrid. The building complex is a Benedictine monastery

Reisevideo: Das Taj Mahal in Indien

weltentdecker — Sun, 30 Mar 2008 17:42:35 +0000

Das Taj Mahal ist ein beeindruckendes 58 m hohes Mausoleum in der Nähe der indischen Stadt Agra, welches der Prinz Khurram Shah Jahan im Jahre 1631 zum Gedenken an seine verstorbene Hauptfrau Mumtaz Mahal erbauen ließ.

Das Taj Mahal wird im Jahr von ca. 2 Millionen Menschen besucht und liegt ca. 200 km von Neu Delhi entfernt.

Die Lonely Planet Autorin Sarina Singh führt sie in diesem Video durch eine sehr interessante Tour, auch durch das Rote Fort.

Eine dunkle Legende besagt, daß der Architekt des Taj Mahal, Abu Fazel, nach dem Bau hingerichtet wurde, damit er nicht danach ein vergleichbares Bauwerk errichten konnte.

Nur 600 m vom Taj Mahal entfernt befindet sich das luxuriöse Fünf Sterne Hotel "Oberoi Amarvilas".

Incredible India - Sehenswürdigkeiten und Eindrücke aus Indien:

Zeitloses Indien - Timeless India. Toller 25 Minuten Film über Indiens Geschichte:

Buenos Aires III

vergentorix — Sat, 22 Mar 2008 20:47:27 +0000

One day, after staying up most of the night, we went to Recoleta early in the morning. It was cloudy and still fairly dark when we walked through the cemetery gates. The graveyard basically consists of several city blocks almost completely filled with the family mausoleums of the Buenos Aires elite. They vary greatly in size and opulence. Some are well taken care of, while others are caving in or seem abandoned. A lot of doors have been broken, or the glass that lined them shattered, and the old coffins are open to the air. There are dried out flowers sitting in dirty vases on white marble in the mausoleums. It is so strange to see these forgotten people in the middle of the metropolis. Some of the buildings are like small churches, complete with stained glass windows and altars. Others are very plain. There was one with a door that went into a pyramid, which was completely free of any name or text. There are gnarled old evergreens winding through blocks of the cemetery, some over stone benches in little plazas. Cats roam around and sit on the tomb statues of old hubristic generals. It is a bizarre and beautiful place, and easily the best cemetery I have ever seen.

By the time we walked out, there was a band playing old jazz by the archway. We bought water and walked back into the city. Another day I went to Recoleta in the afternoon. A cat, who I named Samuel followed me around the whole time as I looked for Evita. Eventually a cold rain started falling and Samuel ran off under a bench and looked at me as if to invite me under. I stood under a mini greco-roman roof on one of the mausoleums and waited for the downpour to pass.