Spanish carriage for a Spanish city

THEME DAY: PUBLIC TRANSPORTATION • The kalesa is a horse-drawn carriage introduced to the Philippines by the Spaniards in the 18th century. It is still used as public transportation in certain parts of Manila, especially in the district of Binondo, but fancier ones like this—more properly called a carruaje—are used mostly for sightseeing in the old walled city of Intramuros. This man was waiting for tourists at the nearby Rizal Park.




See what people all over the world use as public transportation. Click here to view thumbnails for all participants.

Amazing Graffiti Alphabet Deem

Deem graffiti alphabet amazing and cool. Examples of graffiti art on the walls of a beautiful street. Perfect blend of color, there is also a 3D impression.

PROMENADE DES TAGS ET FRESQUES DE BRUXELLES

Compte-rendu de la visite des tags et fresques de Bruxelles (fichier PPT) proposée par le Centre Culturel de Tubize et Lézarts Urbains. Au programme Neerpede, les Marolles et de Wand.

Source : C-Paje - 2 octobre 2010

Banking Week

No, this is not garter week, it is banking week. The woman in the picture had withdrawn $5 from the bank in the background, and is depositing the money in a garter purse. The picture certainly looks staged, but is interesting nonetheless. The picture was taken in 1908.

I very much enjoyed anarchist week last week. We saw that the anarchist are not only opposed to "government", they are opposed to large corporations. It appears the thing that annoys them most are large banks. So, this week we will be looking at pictures of bank, and be talking about the banking system.

Domestic Update:

Things continue to progress nicely out in the Been Barn. The picture above shows a nice piece of squash I picked this morning. The lettuce continues to do well, and the cucumbers are unbelievable. I had mentioned that Mrs. PJM took some samples to work, and everyone wanted to buy her produce. The two restaurants in the airport have pretty much said that they will buy all of what she brings in. Mrs. PJM has found that she does not have to compete with the grocery stores on price. People like the produce because it is "picked this morning", is pesticide free, and really of exceptional quality. So, if she charges grocery store prices, people will pick her produce over grocery store produce.  Since the produce is grown hydroponically, you can not describe it as "organic", but it really has all the characteristics of organic produce. So far, pretty much everything I have tried to grow out there has worked.

The one thing that you have to stay on top of with greenhouse vegetables is pollination. Since there are no natural pollinators in the greenhouse, you have to make sure everything is pollinated. For the cucumbers we grow, they are self-pollinating. Each bloom has male and female parts in the same location, so nothing needs to be done for pollination. For the tomatoes and peppers, each bloom has both male and female parts, but they are in different spots. So, you have to take a vibrating wand around, and touch the stem holding the bloom. The vibration causes a little cloud of pollen in the bloom, which results in pollination. For squash, watermelon and the like, some blooms are male and some are female. You have to go around and pick the male blooms off, take the petals off, and then place the tip into the female blooms and let the pollen spread around. This is a little tricky, and if you don't do it right, the fruit does not develop, or is misshapen. They do sell little boxes of bumblebees to put in the greenhouse to do the pollination, but I have not decided to take that step yet.

Also, last week my new large hydroponic systems came in. Right now, I am in the middle of a crop in the test systems I have set up, so I really don't want to break them down to install the new systems. I plan to wait a little, and install the new systems a little at a time.

Deliciously creepy

Even though we do not celebrate Halloween in the Philippines, it gives a perfect excuse for getting a yummy ice cream cake from Dairy Queen. This particular design is great for creeping out other people too—it turns your teeth and tongue black. 

Happy Halloween!

Graffiti Bubble Writing Alphabet A to Z

Alphabet letters that are written to produce the bubble fun, cool and beautiful. writing graffiti bubble from A to Z is fun. cool style bubble of people who see any'll be amazed with the results that you create.

Graffiti Slank

This is the graffiti with Slank alphabet created by Slanker's. Slank is a band in Jakarta, which inhabits the gray area between rock band and cult.

Mystery Person Contest

Good Saturday morning to you all. This morning is Mystery Person Contest morning. Ready, set Go!!!!

Alevtina Kakhidze - Revolutionary Obedience

"Art must concern itself with the real, but it throws any notion of the real into question. It always turns the real into a facade, a representation, and a construction. But it also raises questions about the motives of that construction." - Mike Kelley

Here is how it went:
Ukrainian artist Alevtina Kakhidze has been working on value and power for a while. In one of her charming projects (The Most Commercial Project), for instance, she drew objects that she liked, most of them she couldn't afford, and gave the drawings the same value that the objects had. So, a drawing of a Louis Vuitton handbag had the same value as the object itself. And when she brought her goods into her marriage, the lawyers confirmed that her estate was worth much more than her entrepreneur husband's.
In one of her projects, back in 2008, Alevtina drew the earth seen from the sky. No, this needs more precision: the earth seen from an airplane which is not her own private airplane.
Once she made the drawing, Alevtina Kakhidze wrote to some of the richest people in Ukraine - Rinat Akhmetov and Viktor Pinchuk (who has his own adventure in the art world now) - and asked them to make a drawing for her of how the earth looks from a private plane. It was a nice portfolio she sent them, very professional and smooth. She tried encouraging them, telling them it wasn't about drawing well. If anyone can draw, so can you!
This (and the obvious silence afterwards) made for a nice work. A clean statement about what we see and the position we see it from.

But two years later, unexpectedly, an answer arrives. Akhmetov decided to make his huge foundation to support artists' projects. And Alevtina's project was thought perfect for a beginning. Unfortunately, Mr. Achmetov is too busy/shy/untalented to make a drawing, but he will be happy to rent a private plane for Ms. Kakhidze, so she can make her project herself.
And make it she did.
The project, called "I'm Late For A Plane That Cannot Be Missed", started with Alevtina going by collective transport from her house in the suburbs to the airport. She hitch-hiked a little, took a suburban mini-bus, a suburban train, and (as expected) arrived late at the small private airport near Kiev. There was already a TV crew traveling with her by then, asking everyone on the way who they were and if they knew Alevtina. At the airport, there were several more crews, and over a dozen news photographers. After all, this was an important day for art and culture in Ukraine: the richest man around decided to support real artists, and started by allowing this innocent-looking girl to realize her dream.

And off she went. Onboard, she took only a few reporters. (There was even a struggle for the seat.)

The anxious journalists were mad when, upon returning, Alevtina declared only one thing: she will tell the whole story and answer all the questions tomorrow during her lecture performance. That made no news story at all! Disappointed and frustrated, they could do nothing but wait.

However, the next day arrived quite quickly. And here they were, the journalists, and tens of artists gathered at the conference in one of the most prestigious places in Ukraine (a part of the Saint Sophia Cathedral complex). Waiting mainly to learn how to get money for their projects. And, also, to hear what Alevtina has to say. And to see the drawings.
Alevtina starts describing how she prepared for the trip, how she got clothes specially designed for the occasion, she talks about the cost of the plane rental (10 000 euros). And then she declares:

I felt so calm on the way to the airport and in the sky but now I have to account for this tranquility. What have we done on the plane? We were there. There is no result. I have nothing to show for what actually happened there.

The journalists were confused. This is surely a scandal? No drawing!
But also - no demolition! No shocking performance! No reaction! Nothing! Alevtina did strictly nothing - she did not change the game, she did not make the plane fly somewhere else, she did not paint it red, she made no drawing. She took the flight.
Did I say she didn't change the game?
Of course she did.
Her non-action was performative. It created a new reality. It brought about a challenge to the system, keeping up the power struggle between the art and the money. Who is the boss here? And why?
Certainly, they want us to do what we want. But if we do what we want our way, we are the ones defining what they want. And for a fraction, it becomes our game. And this fraction, for me, is the work.

In one of her works, Alevtina writes (or quotes, the origin is unsure): “And do you remember, I found 10 roubles, and ran home to show mom. Not the 10 roubles, but how lucky I am.”
It is not the thing we find. It is about how lucky we are.
And how we subvert this luck.


PS. The struggle continues: in the description of the event on the Foundation's site, the actual request for Akhmetov to draw the earth is not mentioned, making it all seem slightly more like making "Dreams come true in art". What dreams, exactly?

Friday Finds at the Bookstore: The Mercy Seller by Brenda Rickman Vantrease

Publish Date: April 2008

Format: Paperback 448pp

Synopsis: (From the Publisher)

"In the fifteenth century, with religious intolerance spreading like wildfire across Europe, Englishwoman Anna Bookman and her grandfather, Finn, earn a living in Prague by illuminating precious books---including forbidden translations of the Bible. As their secret trade grows ever more hazardous, Finn urges Anna to seek sanctuary in England. Her passage abroad, however, will be anything but easy.

Meanwhile, a priest in London, Brother Gabriel, dutifully obeys church doctrine by granting pardons . . . for a small fee. But when he is sent to France in disguise to find the source of the banned manuscripts finding their way to England, he meets Anna, who has set up a temporary stall as a bookseller. She has no way of knowing that the rich merchant frequenting her stall is actually a priest---just as he does not know that he has met the woman for whom he will renounce his church.

It is only in England, which is far from the safe harbor once imagined, that their dangerous secrets will be revealed."

Zero

Kilometer Zero—that point from where all distances in a country are measured—in the Philippines is right across the Rizal Monument. Does your country have one and do you know where it is?

See what's reflecting what at James' Weekend Reflections.

Anarchist Alexander Berkman

Good Friday morning to you all. We wrap up Anarchy Week with the same way we started it; with a picture of Alexander Berkman.

I have enjoyed this week of pictures, and especially the civil discourse in the comments section on the topic of anarchy. I think the anarchy posters did an eloquent job in clearly stating their positions, but I remain unconvinced that mankind can live in small groups governing themselves without one of those groups deciding to take over their neighbors. I can see some aspects of attractiveness to the society they dream would exist, but unfortunately that society will never exist.

Hmmm . . . now to come up with a "Mystery Person" for in the morning.

Cool Paper Graffiti Alphabet Letters

Examples of graffiti style alphabet a-z in the paper. Cool paper graffiti alphabet letters

Interview with Anne Easter Smith on Examiner.com

The delightful historical fiction author, Anne Easter Smith, has recently been interviewed on Examiner.com, which you can view here: Anne Easter Smith interview.

Her lovely books, set during the Wars of the Roses, currently include:
  

and soon to be published (May 2011):



Be sure to check back for more information about these intriguing novels!

Pun-ny no. 3

Miss Fit. A dress and alteration shop. The business had closed but the sign was still there.

"I love to hate puns," says Hilda in Manila.

Graffiti Names A-Z | Graffiti Alphabet Letters

Graffiti names a-z with a few letters different - Graffiti fonts

George Cochon

Today we feature a picture of George Cochon. He was a leading anarchist in Paris in the late 1800's. I can tell from the comments that some of you are growing weary of Anarchy Week here at OPOD. To that I respond, if I had to suffer through poetry week, you can suffer through anarchy week.

I found it interesting that we had even more anarchist speak up yesterday in the comments. It makes me wonder, are there anarchist who are daily readers of this site, or do they just search the WEB for anarchist discussions to join in on. Either thing would be fine, it is just I am curious.

OK, yesterday I presented the hypothetical situation of my real friend Matt, and how he would conduct himself in an anarchist society, and I suggested that he would loot and pillage hapless anarchy book stores and coffee shops. The anarchists responded, in effect, that anarchists are not necessarily pacifists, and nothing in the anarchist creed would preclude them from organizing, arming themselves, selecting leaders, and defending their coffee shops and bookstores.

So, lets consider this for a moment. To keep things simple, lets say their little group has 10 people in it. For arguments sake lets say they put 40% of their people to work associated with the bookstore (culture), 40% of their resources to work associated with the coffee shop (food) and 20% of their people to work on defense of the little society (defense). Well, Matt can easily recruit a like number of rednecks into his little band of raiders, plunderers and pillagers. In this group though, 100% of resources are put into military training and arms making. They don't have to worry about wasting time on farming or that sort of stuff because they take what they need in raids. Now, when Matt and the Raiders go to war with Mr. Lemuria and the anarchist coffer shop and book store owners/patrons, well, it will be a massacre. For a real world analogy to this, consider Bill Quantrill's raid on Lawrence Kansas.


The sad fact is that it is easier to burn down a coffee shop than it is to build a coffee shop. People that spend their time building coffee shops can not adequately prepare to defend them against people who do nothing but raid, rob, and pillage. The sad fact is that we need government to provide the rule of law, and defense of individual rights. 

ODES - LSK CREW

EKSTAZY A.K.A. SHERC

Open wide!

Another childhood favorite in the playground at the Rizal Park is this hippo. My sister, cousins and I felt like we were on top of the world when we were sitting in his open mouth. Now, I don't think I'd even fit in the tunnel in his chest. I think he needs a (paint) bath too—he looks like he's been wallowing in the mud for too long.

'Artistiek vandalisme' kleurt treinwagons

Benooz heeft zijn "Z" vergeten ...

Jan Lion - Het Nieuwsblad - 26 oktober 2010

GUARD FYA PKK

QUIET R&C

AGROE ONE

Graffiti Tag Styles - Outline Shadow and Color Tags

Graffiti tag styles with a blue outline and shadow.

Graffiti Tag Styles - Outlined Tags

With graffiti alphabet tag styles outlined. For example create graffiti-style tags outlined

Graffiti Tag Styles - Shadow Tag

Alphabet graffiti style with shadow tag. Example of making graffiti with shadow effects.

Graffiti Tag Styles - Plain Tags

Alphabet graffiti style with plain tags. Graffiti Tag Styles - Plain Tags.

Wall Street Bombing

We are learning that the Anarchist are not just against government, they are also against pretty much any large institution that would exert influence over others, such as, large corporations. From my study, it appears that the banks and financial centers are particular sore points with the anarchists. The picture above was taken in 1920, and shows a bombing that occurred on Wall Street. So apparently this group did not just throw bombs at their own rally, but also threw bombs at other people.

I was very excited to see we had an actual anarchist post on the site yesterday, a Mr. Lemuria. From the post it sounded like he was not a real anarchist, but more of a hobby-anarchist, or armchair anarchist, or to coin a term, a Gentleman Anarchist. I would guess that he likes to read books on the subject, and sit around the coffee shop with his friends and talk about throwing rocks through windows, but probably would not ever really throw a rock through a window. I am not being pejorative, but just summarizing my read on his musings.

I hope Mr. Lemuria will post again today, as I would really like to better understand how this movement thinks. I am not interested in winning an argument, I just want to understand what goes on in these people's minds.

OK, so let me describe a situation. I have this friend named Matt. Matt loves guns. Every time I see him he shows me the 27 guns he has bought since the last time I saw him. He buys guns, he shoots guns, he fixes guns, and in fact he can even make guns from scratch. If there is one thing he loves more than guns, it is coffee. The only thing better than coffee is free coffee. The only thing better than free coffee would be an evening of drinking free coffee and burning down anarchist book stores. Now Matt might dream of stealing coffee from an anarchist coffee shop, and then burning down an anarchist book store, but he would never actually do it because of the Rule of Law. He understands that if he were to do those things he would be thrown into prison, and would possibly become a love interest of a 350 pound Hell's Angel biker. So, Matt behaves himself because there is a government, and rule of law, and prisons, and bikers in prison.

If Mr. Lemuria and his friends achieve their Utopian vision of anarchy where there is no government and no large corporations, the issue is that my friend Matt does not go away, and his friends do not go away, and his guns do not go away. Even if you got rid of guns as you got rid of governments, Matt could build one from scrap metal in about a week. So, if we have Matt, guns, anarchist coffee shops, anarchist book stores, and no government, there will be raids where coffee is stolen and anarchist book stores are burned. Oh yes, there will be coffee raiders, and coffee raids.

Mr. Lemuria now has the choice of either organizing his friends and arming himself, or becoming the victim of Matt and his marauding band of bookstore burners. If Mr. Lemuria does organize and arm, then Matt and his group get into battles with Mr. Lemuria and his group. So, we got rid of government but did not get rid of war. Also, Matt then starts banding together with other marauding groups, and organizes, and chooses leaders. Now all the sudden it sounds like we have a new government emerging. Matt now has a lot more men to arm, and he does not have the time to make all the guns, so a company is formed to make guns, and Matt uses the proceeds from his coffee shop raids to purchase weapons from the company, which begins to grow in size. So, now we not only have emerging governments, we have emerging large corporations and defense contractors.

So, how can an anarchist society exist without wars breaking out, people organizing, and governments being formed.

VERO - PRIDE OF BELGIUM

OSTER - ALEZ SOLDE AFILER

STUR CREW

Graffitispuiter

Diezelfde zaterdag, 23 oktober 2010, trof de Spoorwegpolitie Antwerpen tijdens een controle op een trein tussen Antwerpen en Gent een man aan die zenuwachtig reageerde op het zien van de Spoorwegpolitie. De man had verfspatten op zijn kledij en schoenen.

Bij een verdere controle werden een aantal spuitbussen aangetroffen, alsook een zak met 75 gram marihuana. Op het fototoestel van de betrokkene werden verschillende foto’s aangetroffen van graffiti op treinen.

De man bekende dat er in de nacht van 22 op 23 oktober 2010 graffiti werd gespoten op een stilstaande trein te Dendermonde. Bij controle door de Spoorwegpolitie zijn er minstens 6 treinen bespoten met graffiti met ongeveer een oppervlakte van 70 m².

De betrokkene wordt voorgeleid voor het parket van Brugge in verband met de verdovende middelen en het parket van Dendermonde zal een apart onderzoek voeren naar de graffiti.

Dave Doms -  Adjunct Postchef

Spoorwegpolitie Antwerpen

Source : www.polfed-fedpol.be

HYDRUS

ZIUTA

DECAP

ORGIE

AOEP

Book Review: The Secret Eleanor by Cecelia Holland

Publish Date: August 2010

Format: Paperback 368pp

Synopsis: (From the Publisher)

"Eleanor of Aquitaine seized hold of life in the 12th century in a way any modern woman would envy! 

1151: As Duchess of Aquitaine, Eleanor grew up knowing what it was to be regarded for herself and not for her husband's title. Now, as wife to Louis VII and Queen of France, she has found herself unsatisfied with reflected glory-and feeling constantly under threat, even though she outranks every woman in Paris. 

Then, standing beside her much older husband in the course of a court ceremony, Eleanor locks eyes with a man-hardly more than a boy, really- across the throne room, and knows that her world has changed irrevocably... 

He is Henry D'Anjou, eldest son of the Duke of Anjou, and he is in line, somewhat tenuously, for the British throne. She meets him in secret. She has a gift for secrecy, for she is watched like a prisoner by spies even among her own women. She is determined that Louis must set her free. Employing deception and disguise, seduction and manipulation, Eleanor is determined to find her way to power-and make her mark on history."

My Review:

Eleanor of Aquitaine is most well known for her marriage to Henry II and for being the devout mother of Richard I, but in The Secret Eleanor, Cecelia Holland focuses on Eleanor's early adulthood and her marriage to King Louis VII of France.

From the Beginning of the book, Eleanor's ambition and thirst for power is quite apparent. While holding court in Paris, Eleanor meets Henry II and is quickly besotted with him. Already dissatisfied with her marriage to Louis VII, Eleanor decides at once that, with Henry II at her side, nothing can hold her back from the power she desires. She immediately embarks upon a course of action that is sure to set her free of her current situation. Eleanor is strong and ruthless when it comes to reaching her goals, yet not even she can accomplish this feat alone; She will need the help of her sister Petra and the loyalty of those whom love her. But when the stakes are so high, can one completely trust anyone? In a story of love, ambition, power and betrayal, The Secret Eleanor will have you questioning who is right in their actions and what price is too high for power and loyalty to those you love.

Having read only one other book on Eleanor of Aquitaine, I was eager to learn more about this fascinating woman through Cecelia Holland's The Secret Eleanor. Unfortunately, I found this description of Eleanor to be lacking in depth and it was quite hard to derive any pleasing qualities from her demeanor. In the first few chapters she meets Henry II and has an intimate, and might I add cleverly descriptive, rendezvous with him; which lead me to ask: "Why? Where did that come from?". There were many times during the course of the novel I found myself pondering how their love came about. If only there would have been a bit more history between them it would have improved the plot greatly.

Although my issues with Eleanor were great, they became less prevalent as the book went on. This was mainly do to the sift in focus from Eleanor to her sister Petra, who's motives were not without reason. It was through her that everything was put into perspective and the story began to draw me in.

After the switch in focus, the plot quickly becomes more in depth and it twisted with great surprise. By the end of the book, I found myself wanting it to continue! I was not ready to leave Eleanor and Petra; it seemed their story had just begun. All things considered, this was a good read; though one that could have been better, especially in the beginning. I have another book by Cecelia Holland awaiting me on my bookshelf; I shall indeed be reading it.


FTC: I received this book from the publisher. As always, these are my own honest opinions.