September 17, 2005   Those magnificient men and women in their magnificient fighting machines ... these were the first of 100,000 motorcycles in the 12th Annual Trail of Tears Commemorative Motorcycle Ride (Sept 17, 2005) --- Every morning i drive to work along I-565 and have driven past on US-72 towards Chattaonooga, TN and see signs every couple of miles indicating the highway to be part of the Trail of Tears Corridor. Today, a veyr major highway very close to my apt was closed for the morning to allow for a massive bikers rally to commemorate the event - about 175 years ago, when the US Congress passed the Indian Removal Act to forcibly remove some 60,000 members of Native American tribes in the United States living east of the Mississippi River to areas further west. The most famous Trail of Tears is the path taken to move the Cherokee Indians to their new settlements in Oklahoma. In Cherokee, the Trail is remembered as Nunna daul Tsuny, literally translated as the trail where they cried. The actual commemoration of the event's history occurs with the largest "organized motorcycle ride in the south" (some claim the nation) with over a 100,000 bikes (trust me - that is a lot of them - you have to see it to believe it) starting from Cherokee, NC on Friday night traveling through Chattanooga and travels to Waterloo, AL. The roar from a 100,000 motorcyles (a majority of them Harley Davidsons) has to be heard to be believed ....

December 21, 2005   happy holidays

December 22, 2005   Abandoned The railway depot is the oldest railway building in the state and has been revived and restored ... but the freight depot (bulit in 1856) next to it was destroyed last year in a fire. historical groups have pledged to help revive it again ... so maybe the title should read Burned, not abandoned. and soon to rise again

December 27, 2005   The other side of the ruins ....

June 14, 2006   One of the photos that I had taken of the Barnes and Noble store at Inner Harbor, Baltimore was recently published in the Schmaps Baltimore City Guide. The full version of the above page can be seen here. the original photo is located here. i am having a tough time using hyperlinks with unicode/baraha - anyone elsehaving the same problems?

June 15, 2006   A cold winter mornign from a few weeks ago ... my fingers were numb - barely managed to release the shutter ...

August 24, 2006   clicked on a recent trip to San Francisco - the Golden Gate Bridge is truly fascinating. particularly captivating is its "international orange" shade of color (yeah, thats the official name of the color shade). in the next few days, i will try and put some glimpses of the SF bay area as i saw it ...

August 24, 2006   The Burghers of Calais (Les Bourgeois de Calais) is one of the most famous sculptures by Auguste Rodin, completed in 1888. It serves as a monument to an occurrence in 1347 during the Hundred Years' War, when Calais, an important French port on the English Channel, was under siege by the English for over a year. The story goes that England's Edward III, after a victory in the Battle of Crécy, laid siege to Calais and Philip VI of France ordered the city to hold out at all costs. Philip failed to lift the siege and starvation eventually forced the city to parlay for surrender. Edward offered to spare the people of the city if any six of its top leaders would surrender themselves to him, presumably to be executed. Edward demanded that they walk out almost naked and wearing nooses around their necks and be carrying the keys to the city and castle. One of the wealthiest of the town leaders, Eustache de Saint Pierre, volunteered first and five other burghers soon followed suit and they stripped down to their breeches. Saint Pierre led this envoy of emaciated volunteers to the city gates and it is this moment and this poignant mix of defeat, heroic self-sacrifice and the facing of imminent mortality that Rodin captures in these figures, which are scaled somewhat larger than life. In history, though the burghers expected to be executed, their lives were spared by the intervention of England's Queen, Philippa of Hainault. The monument was proposed by the mayor of Calais for the town's square in 1880. This was an unusual move, because normally only monuments to Victory were constructed, but France had suffered devastating losses in its defeat in the Franco-Prussian War and it longed to recognize the sacrifice that its young men had made. Rodin's design was controversial, as it did not present the burghers in a heroic manner, rather they appeared sullen and worn. The monument was innovative in that it presented the burghers at the same level as the viewers, rather than on a traditional pedestal, although until 1924 the city council of Calais, against Rodin's wishes, displayed the statue on an elevated base. [Source: Wikipedia] While the original statue still stands in Calais, this one is from the version at Stanford University campus.

August 24, 2006   More of The Burghers of Calais (Les Bourgeois de Calais) by Auguste Rodin Located at Stanford University campus.

August 25, 2006   The magnificient Golden Gate Bridge is a suspension bridge spanning the Golden Gate, the opening into the San Francisco Bay from the Pacific Ocean. It connects the city of San Francisco on the northern tip of the San Francisco Peninsula and a portion of the south-facing Marin County headlands near the small bayside town of Sausalito. The Golden Gate Bridge is by far the most stunning landmark in the whole of San Francisco. The gigantic structure, the international orange shade, and most importantly its spectacular location all contribute to its appeal. I spent a lot of time around the bridge - it has a different charm from every new angle, and trust me - there are some stunning locations to view the bridge from! and i bet most of the bay area residents have not explored the best locations yet ... i am certainly not content with seeing the bridge for 3 days in a row, i will definitely be back

August 25, 2006   The Man and his baby The Golden Gate bridge was the brainchild of Joseph Strauss, an engineer responsible for over 400 drawbridges, though they were far smaller than this project and mostly inland. His first drawings were in 1921 - and were far from approved. Strauss spent more than a decade trying to get support for the bridge in Northern California. To commemorate Joseph Strauss for his part taken in the construction of the bridge, a statue of him was relocated in 1955 near the structure to remind people how important his work was in the building of the Golden Gate Bridge. Golden Gate suicide trivia (im sure Strauss never expected his masterpiece to be used like this): The Golden Gate Bridge is notorious as a site for suicide. The official suicide count ended in 1995 when the number approached 1,000. Through the eight years to 2003, on average there was one suicide jump every two weeks, which brought the unofficial total to over 1,300 suicides. The 220-foot (67 m) fall takes four seconds and jumpers hit the water at 75 miles per hour (120 km/h). As of 2006, only 26 people have survived the jump. Roy Raymond, founder of Victoria's Secret, committed suicide by jumping off the bridge

August 25, 2006   For those who think bungee jumping off the bridge might be cool - there are those who think it might actually be therapeutic Jump for Life, started by Jaymz Dilworth in late 2005, is a petition being circulated for the Board of Directors of the Golden Gate Bridge as an alternative to a suicide barrier. Jump for Life proposes that bungee jumping should be permitted from the bridge and a portion of the proceeds used to fund suicide prevention and mental health charities. It is suggested that one million dollars per year could be raised in this manner. Proponents also hope that Jump for Life may reduce the allure of the bridge as a suicide destination and be an opportunity for people to overcome their fears.

August 27, 2006   Stanford Memorial Church Located at the center of the Stanford University campus in Stanford, California. It was built by Jane Stanford as a memorial to her husband, Leland Stanford. The church, also known as "MemChu", was built in the early 1900s, (actual construction began in 1899), and has hosted approximately 7,500 weddings since it was completed in 1903. The church was badly damaged in the earthquake of 1906, but has since been restored. [Overall, the original Stanford campus was designed in the Spanish-colonial style common to California known as Mission Revival. The same is evident in the contsruction of the church. The red tile roofs and solid sandstone masonry hold a distinctly Californian appearance and most of the subsequently erected buildings have maintained consistent exteriors. The red tile roofs and bright blue skies common to the region are a famously complementary combination.]

August 27, 2006   The mosaics at the Memorial Church cost nearly $100,000 (early 1900 dollars!) to build but are quite good. They were completely destroyed in the 1906 earthquake, rebuilt, and damaged again in the Loma Prieta earthquake of 1989, but subsequently restored. The stained glass windows are very pretty and colorful as well ... some great stuff to check out it you are in the Palo Alto area. The best part of going on a weekday was the fact that I was the only one there ...

August 28, 2006   More of the Golden Gate Bridge ...

August 30, 2006   California State Route 1 (Highway 1) हा California राज्यात पॅसिफ़िक महासागराच्या च्या किनार्याला लागून जाणारा एक महामार्ग. अनेक ठिकाणी समुद्रकिनार्यापाशी गाडी थांबवून पॅसिफ़िक महासागराच्या सौंदर्याचा आनंद घेता येतो. द्क्शीणेकडे लोस ऍन्जेलेस च्या जवळ सुरू होऊन उत्तरेकडे सॅन फ़्रॅन्सिस्को च्या ही पार जाणार्या ह्या मार्गावर समुद्र किनारपट्टी फ़ारच सुंदर आहे ...

August 30, 2006   पॅसिफ़िक किनार्यावरील एक दीपस्तंभ (अर्थातच कॅलिफ़ोर्निय राज्य म्हामार्ग क्र. १ वर थांबून काढलेलं चित्र

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Archive through September 16, 2005

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