Lavonardo

This week’s photo thursday challenge pulls participants in to the BlogCatalog’s blogging for hope campaign.

So basically the topic is nothing less and more than human rights. Probably one of the toughest and open-ended assignments thus far. And as shown in the others’ photos, no single universal subject overwhelms the rest on this one.

My take is the attached image, of a long bridge across a turbulent river. Worldwide, it would seem that human rights are always just a step (or seventeen) ahead, but no matter what happens, there’s unfortunately an extra mile to cover.

The star-spangled banner flying on top of the bridge should not be considered as an endorsement of the country’s policies.

This week’s photo thursday challenge is once again of the “continue the story” type.

The source image is a painting by Henri Toulouse-Lautrec, and in my opinion the woman in the painting is perplexed by a cormorant sitting on a piling on the lake.

As usual, the full-sized photograph is available by clicking the attached image.

This week’s photo thursday challenge is domestic - something typically finnish.

I’m sure this week’s collection will be filled with images on flags, forests and snow. Among other things. My take is a very common scene in Ostrobothnia, an lush emerald-green field sliced in half by a powerline, topped with a roiling sky. The photograph is taken in Nivala, on the edge of just such a field, and despite appearances it did not rain that day.

Even more typical image would have been one of a lopsided barn, weathered by scores of winters, but in the era of effective agriculture, such buildings are becoming rarer every year.

This week’s photo thursday challenge is esthetics of degradation.

My take is a gargoyle, perched on a rooftop in Paris. This is a very close crop, and there’s multiple of these critters in the full-sized image (available via a click on the photograph). The weather has not been kind on the stony carving, and the degradation is visible all over the surface.

The gargoyle is one of the coolest concepts of medieval architecture, one that sadly never really made it to Finland. The word has got a really good translation though: räystäspiru - eaves-devil.

This week’s photo thursday challenge is to take the name of a novel, and extrapolate from that. Out of the three names given, I chose Erica Jong’s Fear of Flying (which has a far more agreeable name when translated).

The image is of a plane approaching Boston’s Logan airport. An airport that is located almost next to the city, just a narrow bay away. Some of the hotels in the harbour actually have water taxis that shuttle travellers to the airport, thus avoiding the congestion. Which is rather mild these days, following the completion of the Big Dig.

This week’s photo thursday challenge is bogeyman, mörkö in finnish.

According to wikipedia, a bogeyman has

… no specific appearance, and bogeyman can be used metaphorically to denote a person or thing of which someone has an irrational fear.

My take on the subject is a small creature with a fearsome face. This is an unknown mantis species, about five inches long, climbing on a shrubbery. It’s probably dangerous only to plants (or other insects, should it be a predatory species), not to man. But blown up to a big enough size, or looked at from a short distance, the critter certainly is scary enough.

The image is available in full-size (albeit there’s lots of out-of-focus bits) by clicking the photograph.

Meh.

Was looking forward to a new challenge already this week, but the site’s break is actually two weeks long.

This week’s photo thursday challenge is reflection.

My take on the subject is a dusk-lit glass building in Victoria, British Columbia.

This week’s photo thursday challenge concerns itself with a long quote from Erland Loe’s Supernaïve. The most pertinent bit of which is “… the list doesn’t lie. I’m satisfied with it. Perhaps the object I’m looking for does exist…”

Having not read the book, my assumption is that the list describes several unlikely objects that the narrator expects to have a serious trouble locating.

This is item #21 on the list: soda with a disgusting name.

Pocari Sweat is a genuine brand from Japan, and despite the name, is not too bad. Especially after a long day in the hot sun.

This week’s photo thursday challenge is hard choice.

My take on the subject is the attached image, of a boat heading into the mist just below the Niagara falls. It took about three seconds to make up our minds whether to go on such a cruise and experience the falls up close and personal.

The blue raincoats did help. A little. But the shoes were sloshing wet for the rest of the afternoon.

This week’s photo thursday challenge is joku raja. As an expression that doesn’t translate too well, and my take in the title does require a certain amount of linguistic gymnastics.

Originally I planned to include an image of the zero meridian in Greenwich, but cannot locate the original. And as a mere thumbnail, it’s not that good a photograph. Hence, my choice falls on a badly graffitied train in Brussels. I’m pretty sure that the gity officials would indeed like to apply the same method to the spraycan-wielders as the pink blob is subjected to. (Yeah, the image is quite close to what Juha put up, but I had thought of this before I laid eyes on his…

As usual, the full-size image is available by clicking the photograph, and (drum roll) the archives have not been cleaned out.

This week’s photo thursday challenge is together.

Location: Eira.

Me: on the left side, and the odd hump is my elbow. I think.

Date: sunday morning, late autumn.

The usual explanations apply: a full-size image is available by clicking the photograph, and the archives from the pre-wordpress era are still messed up.

This week’s photo thursday challenge is history.

My take on the subject is a picture of Niccolo Macchiavelli’s statue located outside the Uffizi Galleria in Florence. The author of the Prince certainly made his mark on history with his opportunistic guidelines for wannabe rulers, of whom there was no shortage of in medieval Italy.

On account of a technical mishap (back in 2003, not today), what you see is what you get, almost - the resolution on the original did not take advantage of the camera’s capabilities.

This week’s photo thursday challenge is force.

My take on the subject is a bud, anticipating its burst into a new leaf to celebrate the arrival of spring.

The archives of the previous challenges remain a mess, and as usual, the full-size photograph is available by clicking the picture.

This week’s photo thursday challenge is humorous.

My take on the subject continues the sign-theme theme of the last weeks, a rather unfortunately placed vegetarians allowed-note in front of lingonberry buns.

This was a camera phone image, so what you see is what you get.

Archives are still in a bit of disarray.

This week’s photo thursday challenge is source of pain.

My take on the subject is the attached image, which reminds Singapore Aquarium visitors that seemingly innocent turtles can give powerful bites. They were not very menacing that day, being smothered by the equatorial heat like everybody else.

The photograph is available in full-size by clicking the image.

My photo thursday archives are in a bit of a disarray following the engine change from homebrew to wordpress. They are available, but badly outdated.

This week’s photo thursday challenge subject is to continue the story from an image provided by the team (and shown here, cropped - original is available on the challenge page).

My take on the subject is the following image, where the text of a sign violates the finnish language in a way not often seen. The poor grandma in the image is checking the classic grammar book to see whether there is such a word she saw on a trip to the book fair in the Helsinki Exhibition Hall.

The photograph is available in full-size (but not very good quality) by clicking the image.

The photo thursday archives are in a bit of a disarray following the engine change from homebrew to wordpress. They are available, but badly outdated.

And I certainly hope the sign has been fixed - I’ll report after visiting the travel fair this weekend in the very same location.

This week’s photo thursday challenge subject is rush.

My take on the subject is the attached image, a picture of a tunnel ceiling racing by below the streets of ’s-Hertogenbosch in Holland. The speed of the canal boat is not great, but the exposure time certainly is a bit longer than expected, hence the blurred image.

I’m pretty sure the challenge will attract dozens of traffic-related images. Not having taken one in the only real Stau experienced on the Autobahn, a finnish rush hour doesn’t really do justice to the subject.

(As usual, the full-size photograph is available by clicking the attached image.)

This week’s photo thursday challenge subject is tenkkapoo, a suggestion to “think about it”.

My take on the subject is the attached image, a street sign from Amsterdam. The name’s familiar, that’s for sure. But who actually is Bianca Castafiore?

(As usual, the full-size photograph is available by clicking the attached image.)

This week’s photo thursday challenge subject is brokenness of time, being built from a snippet from Kurt Vonnegut’s Man Without a Country

My take on the subject is the attached image, a chunk of first bona fide carved hieroglyphics I’ve seen. No idea what it means, but it easily shows that even if time itself is measured in fleeting seconds, some things will last through the millennia.

Initially thought about a clock running backwards, but don’t have one on my wall (though have been longing for one for quite a while). And my recollection whether KuuKuu really has a Gammeldansk-supplied one on their wall is too vague to warrant a quick drop in to ascertain the fact. An image of my calendar wouldn’t have been of much use either - the content is true to the task (time splintering into useless fragments), but I’d seriously break all possible NDAs showing that, and a snapshot of an Outlook screen simply isn’t as nifty as a piece of ancient egyptian rock.

(As usual, the full-size photograph is available by clicking the attached image)