Thursday , January 5, 2012
8 Unusual Walls Around the World
Walls have been built since ancient times, to mark borders, protect kingdoms and settlements, or keep out unwanted people. In more recent times, walls have also been built to serve as memorials and structures of art.
01. Chewing Gum Wall, Seattle, US
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Not all walls are controversial and divisive. Seattle's gum wall is the place for any unwanted chewing gum, a tradition which was started by people queuing for the theatre. Currently the gum on the wall stretches to several inches thick and is a slightly alternative location for wedding photographs. 07 more walls after the break...
02. Storm King Wall, NY, US
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Andy Goldsworthy (British sculptor, photographer and environmentalist) created the Storm King Wall in Mountainville, New York in 1997. At 2,278 feet (694m) long, the site-specific sculpture is made from stones gathered around the Storm King Art Center’s property.
03. Security Wall, West Bank, Israel
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This wall is the most controversial in the world. It is being constructed by the Israeli government to separate the Israeli and Palestinian people of the West Bank. Currently standing at 8m (26ft) high, this wall remains a source of hostility and resentment between the two peoples.
04. Vietnam War Memorial Wall, Washington D.C., US
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The Vietnam Veterans Memorial is a national war memorial in Washington, D.C. It is often described as the most moving memorial in the city, the Vietnam Memorial stands as tribute to those who died or went missing, intended to transcend political controversy in remembrance of the soldiers who gave the ultimate sacrifice. Its centerpiece, the Memorial Wall designed by Maya Lin, is made up of two black granite walls engraved with the 58,256 names of the soldiers.
05. Belfast Peace Line, Belfast, Northern Ireland
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The Peace Line stands over 20ft (6m) high and was constructed to separate Catholic and Protestant communities in Belfast thereby 'keeping the peace'. What was meant as a temporary measure became more permanent as the barriers became longer and wider. The recent suggestion that they should be destroyed was met with anger from local residents and so its deconstruction remains a debated topic.
06. Green Line "Walls", Cyprus
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In downtown Nicosia, the Green Line is made mostly of big, colored oil barrels; as you walk along, these yield to bulldozered bunkers with thick green overgrowth. The term Green Line refers to the cease fire line that de facto divides the island nation of Cyprus into two, cutting through the capital of Nicosia. It was first established in 1964.
07. "Ecobarriers" Wall In Rio de Janeiro, Brasil
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Beginning in March 2009, a concrete wall surrounds the Dona Marta favela, which sprawls over the Corcovado hills above Rio de Janeiro and housed approximately 7,000 residents in 2006 in more than 1,000 dwellings. Officials insist the wall exists to protect the remaining native forest as serves as an ecobarrier. Critics see the wall as a symbol of Brazil’s vast division between the rich and poor.
08. Lennon Wall in Prague, Czech Republic
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The John Lennon Wall, began as hippie graffiti in the 80's, was whitewashed by the secret police. The painting returned and when the wall was given back to the Knights of Malta in 1989 as part of a huge restitution deal. The Knights wanted to paint over it too, but the Ambassador from the French Embassy across the street pleaded its case. The wall had to be re-plastered in 1998, but an artist was hired to re-do Lennon's portrait and small graffiti is tolerated today.
10 Most Expensive Books In The World
01. "Leicester Code," Leonardo da Vinci (The Codex Leicester, Leonardo da Vinci)
$ 30.8 million in 1994, the auction Christies ($ 44,6 million in current prices *).
Notebook entries by Leonardo da Vinci, made during his life in Milan in 1506-1510, respectively. The manuscript consists of 18 sheets of paper covered on both sides and folded in such a way that together they formed a 72-page book. Leonardo notes written in a special way, his own "mirror" type - they can be read only by means of a mirror. Entries are devoted to various events, mused about the nature of which Leonardo: why the moon is shining, why and how the water flows in rivers, where are the fossils of which are minerals and so on. Notebook also contains a large number of mathematical calculations, diagrams and drawings. "Leicester" code was named after the Earl of Leicester, who bought the manuscript in 1717. In 1980, the book's heirs Lester bought the famous industrialist, collector and friend of the Soviet Armand Hammer, after which he served for a short period called the "Code Hammer» (Codex Hammer). After his death in 1994 the code was put up for auction, in which was acquired by Microsoft founder Bill Gates and he regularly exhibited in museums in the picture. 09 more after the break...
02. "Gospel of Henry the Lion"
$ 12.4 million in 1983, the auction Sothebys ($ 26,7 million in current prices).
The manuscript includes the four Gospels, has 226 pages, decorated in a unique style of the monks and novices Helmarshauzen Benedictine abbey. After the death of Henry the Lion manuscript was long considered lost. In the XIX century it was discovered in Prague, in 1861 it was purchased by George V, King of Hanover, which is considered the founder of Henry the Lion. Five years later, George V was deposed and fled to Austria, and among other things, took with him the manuscript. Next, trace the relics was again lost, but in 1983 an unknown seller put "The Gospel of Henry the Lion," at auction house Sothebys. During the auction, its owner has become Germany - participated in the financing of the purchase federal government, the governments of Bavaria and Lower Saxony, as well as fund "Prussian Cultural Heritage." In the present manuscript in the library named after the Duke August in Wolfenbüttel (Germany).
03. "Birds of America", John James Audubon (The Birds of America, John James Audubon)
$ 8.8 million in 2000, the auction Christies ($ 11 million in current prices).
Its first edition was printed in the United States in 1827-1838, respectively, during this time it was released only about 200 copies printed in giant format, which he called the Audubon «double elephant folio »- each page has 50 inches (127 cm) in height. Full copy of" Birds of America "includes 435 hand-painted prints of engravings size of 90 to 60 cm, on which birds are depicted life-size. It is now known about the existence of 119 total copies of "Birds of America", 108 of them are stored in museums around the world and only 11 - in private collections. On the market these books come very rarely, and every such case the collectors of books regard as a sensation.
04. "Canterbury Tales", Geoffrey Chaucer (The Canterbury Tales, Geoffrey Chaucer).
$ 7.5 million in 1998, the auction Christies ($ 9,9 million in current prices).
Unique instance of the first edition of "Canterbury Tales" Geoffrey Chaucer, "father of English poetry," and one of the founders of English literature. The book was published in 1477 in the British pioneer printer William Caxton at Westminster Abbey. So far, only 12 survived the first edition known copies, of which only exhibited at Christies book is in a private collection. The book rich in its own story: her first appearance at auction belongs to the year 1776, when it was sold at Christies. In 1998, the book became the property of the London booksellers.
05. "Duke of Northumberland Bestiary» (The Northumberland Bestiar)
$ 5.85 million in 1990, the auction Sothebys ($ 9,6 million in current prices).
English bestiaries like the world was kept not more than 40, and they rarely come onto the market. As explained by experts at home Sothebys in 1990, before the bestiary was last auctioned in 1889. In addition, a copy of the Duke of Northumberland - the latter remained in private hands, and not in a museum collection.
06. Gutenberg Bible (The Gutenberg Bible)
$ 5.4 million in 1987, the auction Christies ($ 10,2 at current prices).
A unique copy of the Bible pioneer Johannes Gutenberg, the oldest extant book printed with movable type of the set. And it was her 42-line version of the format in folio (there is a later 36-line version, known as the Bamberg Bible). 42-line-known among bibliophiles Bible as the "Mazarin Bible", by the name of the cardinal and the first French minister Giulio Mazarin, in the securities of which in 1760 was first detected by the first copy of this Bible. According to the Museum of Gutenberg's just the beginning of the 1450-ies were printed about 180 copies of a 42-line-the Bible, of which survived to our day 48, including 21 - complete. Sold at Christies in 1987 Bible - is incomplete, it is only the first volume. Buyer was a Japanese Maruzen Corporation. Currently, this copy is kept in the library of Keio University.
07. "First Folio: comedy, tragedy and Chronicle," by William Shakespeare (William Shakespeares First Folio: Comedies, Histories and Tragedies).
$ 5.2 million in 2006, the auction Sothebys ($ 5,5 million in current prices).
A copy of the first edition of the plays of William Shakespeare, published in 1623 by John and Henry Kondelom Hemet, participants Shakespearean troupe. "First Folio" - accepted among bibliophiles term to refer to the book, its full name - "Mr. William Shakespeare's comedy chronicles the tragedy. Printed with accurate and authentic texts. " The "First Folio" included 36 of Shakespeare's plays, almost all his plays, with the exception of "Pericles" and "Two notable relatives." So far, only 40 survived complete copies of the first edition of which in private hands are only two, including sold at Sothebys.
08. "On fruit trees," Henri Louis Duhamel du Monceau (Traite des Arbres Fruitiers, Henri Louis Duhamel du Monceau).
$ 4.5 million in 2006, Pierre Berge auction & Associes (Brussels) ($ 4.8 million at current prices).
A Treatise on the fruit trees the French physicist, chemist, agronomist, a member of the Academy of Sciences, Henri Louis Duhamel du Monceau (1700-1782). Beautifully designed two-volume illustrated by a number of famous artists of the period, representing 16 species of fruit trees, their fruits, leaves, seeds and fruit. This copy of the book was once bought a personal library of King Louis XV, for which it was printed in a particularly splendid form, with a gilt cover.
09. "Geography" ("Cosmography"), Ptolemy (Ptolemys «Geographia» (aka «Cosmographia»).
$ 3.99 million in 2006, Sothebys ($ 4,3 million in current prices).
A rare instance of the world's first printed atlas, printed in 1477 in Bologna, Italy on samples of maps of the ancient Greek astronomer, mathematician and geographer Claudius Ptolemy 150 BC. Oe.
10. The Hebrew Bible (Hebrew Bible)
$ 3.18 million in 1989, Sothebys ($ 5,5 million in current prices).
In content, almost matches the Christian Old Testament. This copy is created in Babylon in the IX-X centuries AD. Oe. It is one of the oldest and most valuable manuscript of the Hebrew language.
10 Adorable Beaches
It doesn’t really matter where a beach is located it is always beautiful. But it always remains a center of attraction for the visitors. People get spell bounded by the scenic beauty of the beaches. They simply want to lose themselves in the warm water of the beaches and some beaches are exceptionally adorable. Here are some of the most unique and magnificent beaches of the world.
01. Glass Beach
no one ever considered that a dumping place for the deteriorated materials of the 2nd world war would become so colorful and exceptionally beautiful of the current modern time. This wonder happened in California. 09 more beaches after the break...
02. Inland Beach
This beach is completely inland and is in the existence because of the little cove. It is known as Gulpiyuri beach, located in Spain.
03. Bowling ball beach
04. World’s most crowded beach
05. Airport Beach
This airport of Barra is the one and only airport of the world where planes land on the beach. This Scottish airport has only one British aeroplane company which provides the service from Glasgow and Benbecula commercially.
06. Hot Water Beach
This volcanic beach is located in New Zealand and has about 1,30,000 visitors per year. Here temperature can reach up-to 64’C and you can bath only by digging a hole into it.
07.Refrigerated Beach
08. Red Sand Beach
09. La Caleta Beach
10. World’s whitest sand beach
This New South Wales has a Guinness world of being the world’s whitest sand beach in the world. This beach is now a great place of leisure and people enjoys it a lot.
Grapes in a Volcanic Island
The island of Lanzarote (Lanzarote) refers to the Canary Islands (Spain). It is also called an "island volcanoes" - on a small island is about 60 wide and 15 km are about three hundred volcanoes. In autumn 1730 together with thirty craters began to erupt lava and ash. The eruption lasted for six years, and as a result of one-third of the island was covered with basalt and lifeless ash. This is a very negative impact on agriculture, Lanzarote, but did not stop the local growers, which in the end, successfully adapted to grow grapes right in a volcanic desert. 30 more image after the break...
The main part of the vineyards of Lanzarote is situated in the valley of La Geria, which is significant for its covered by a thick layer of ash. Grape seedlings are planted in specially dug pits or trenches up to several meters wide. This is done first to make it easier to get to the roots to the topsoil, and secondly, to ensure the grapes with moisture. There are virtually no rainfall, irrigation is also not practical, the plants are fed with dew, which condenses on the walls of "funnels". Saturated soil with ash, in turn, tends to hold a long moisture.
Grape pits, usually surrounded by a special wall of basalt, for protection from searing winds.
In spite of such harsh conditions, this yield is up to 40 kg of grapes from the vines.
After 10 thousand years our descendants will wonder what it is like we are now wondering about the appointment of the figures on the Nazca Plateau, and other ancient structures.
The local wine industry produces about two million of w!ne per year.
The island of Lanzarote is quite popular among tourists, as, indeed, the Canary Islands as a whole. Guided tours of the island include, among other things, visiting exotic vineyards and wine cellars.
A bottle of good w!ne with unusual flavors costs about EUR 6.
Every year in the valley of La Geria held "Wine race» (Lanzarote Wine Run), which are involved in both locals and tourists alike. The winners of the race are awarded wine - a liter per kilogram of body weight.
