Category: Europe
Orozco’s Citroen and a Creative Commons Update
I’ve never been much of a car guy. I have one but the last time I put gas in the tank was in April. Of 2011. I didn’t have my first set of wheels until I was 23, an enormous town car that I drove into the ground on the dirt back roads of southeast Ohio. I later drove a Yugo around those same Appalachian foothills for five years. That remains the only new car I ever bought. And this remains the only car I even remotely covet.
It’s Voiture Citroen DS 19 which sculptor Gabriel Orozco famously trisected and reassembled in 1970. An old friend used to say that I was one of the select few who could actually look good driving a Yugo. She’d no doubt be weak in the knees if she saw me driving around in this.
This was shot at the Airs de Paris exhibit at the Centre Pompidou in Paris in the summer of 2007, one of just under 1,600 photos on my flickr stream that I’ve made available under a Creative Commons license. I only ask that credit is given exactly as specified with each photo. Strictly non-commercial, please. Follow the links if you’re not sure.
There are now just over 3,000 photos on my flickr stream, and they are for the most part grouped in sets geographically, with 20+ countries and nearly 40 bigger cities currently listed. That’s one place to start looking. I’m also fairly anal about tagging, so if your mind works in a way remotely similar to mine (my heartfelt sympathies go out to you), you can also hunt around on the tags page.
For previous updates, check the creative commons tag here on Piran Café.
Anyone have any CC experiences they’d like to share? Good or bad? I’d love to hear ‘em!
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Tivoli Park Trio – Three Snaps From Ljubljana’s Central Park
These were taken with my somewhat crappy Nokia mobile phone yesterday at Tivoli Park, giving you a general idea of what the center of Ljubljana looks like as seen from the west. I purposely left home without my camera, throwing books in my pack instead. That didn’t keep me from snapping photos.
I don’t think the park is quite central in a purely geographic sense, but Tivoli has certainly become central to my life here over the past few years. It’s an amazing resource than lots of people here simply take for granted. Bad, bad, bad. But not this guy below who appears to have nearly mastered the art of camouflage.
These mark the 45th straight day I’ve posted at least one daily pic from Slovenia’s capital, part of a project that began back in January 2007. And I need to take a break. So I’m going to. 
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No Right Turn
I spotted quite a few cool decal/sticker-like things on signs in Paris last month. This modified No Right Turn is my modest prediction for today’s run-off election between Nicolas Sarkozy and François Hollande.
Here’s another, with a very Parisian working man theme going on. By the way, this was image No. 3000 on my flickr stream.
And here’s a link to a previous post chock full of 2012 French campaign signs.
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Attention Travel Guidebook Consumers: How Important are Upscale Dog Boutique Recommendations to you?
Like this one for Un Chien Dans le Marais, a shop in Paris that apparently does such a good job meeting spoiled dogs’ most demanding needs that it merits Lonely Planet‘s seal of approval?
I have no idea what the context here is but I was reminded of these pics I snapped a few weeks ago of this pooch outfit shop by a discussion on the.ego.tripper where the.e.t. discusses a recent disappointing episode with Lonely Planet’s India guides. And wondered if Lonely Planet was getting a bit over-the-top commercially.
From the shop’s point of view, any publicity is probably good publicity. For Lonely Planet it’s a tidbit for their readers who like to shop for their spoiled dogs in Paris. And another sticker on another window.
I just found it odd.
Odd enough to take pause, snap a few pictures and post them here when the first opportunity arose. Along with a link to the shop and LP’s description on their site.
Oh. My. Dog! God! I guess that was the point.
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Salamiad 2012
Today’s LJ Pic of the Day is another call to action if you happen to be in Ljubljana tomorrow (Saturday 5 May), happen to not have afternoon plans, and happen to not be a vegetarian.
It’s the Salamijada 2012, in the village of Dvor pri Polhovem Gradcu, just west of Ljubljana, sponsored by the Vetrnik Tourist Association (Turistično Društvo Vetrnik). It’s a very pretty area and just about a 30-40 minutes bike ride west of the center.
Links (Slovenian only): [TD Vetrnik] [Salamijada] [Map Link]
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(Mostly) Latin Quarter Bookstore Stroll
Independent bookshop subsidies? Oh yeah, I’ll drink to that.
During a stroll past bookshops and between wine bars stops in the Latin Quarter a few years ago, a colleague, a crusty reporter for a daily paper, told me that independent bookstores in that area of the French capital were subsidized by the local and national governments. I wondered how such an idea would go over in a place like Cleveland.
Some of the subsidies, he said, took the form of low interest loans. There were also tax breaks and incentives available, as well as cheap below-market rate rents in otherwise very pricey areas. Like the Left Bank’s Latin Quarter, still considered the city’s intellectual lifeline, where the goal of an independent government agency was to preserve book-related commerce and fend off the high end designer apparel shops that were encroaching the area. One thing Paris didn’t need, the argument apparently went, was more clothing boutiques in a neighborhood that witnessed nearly half of its independent bookstores disappear between 2000 and 2010. No not very Sorbonne-like.
I don’t know if austerity measures and Sarkozy era budget cuts have affected these subsidies in the time since –I hope not. But if another casual stroll through the same area last month is an indication, it appears they haven’t.
Stand along the Seine
There were dozens of shops, small and slightly less-small, tucked in and around the zigzag streets, with window displays showcasing titles as varied as the shapes of the worn cobblestones underfoot. That was the best part: discovering obscure books and little-known writers whose only appearance in a shop window –ever– will most certainly be somewhere in this corner of Paris.
I have some doubts that this model will ‘save’ the independents from other book buying and selling trends –online sales made up around 7% of book sales in France in recent years– but it’s certainly saved the parts of the Left Bank that are home to the shops from looking like other parts of the world that are starting to look far too much alike.
Most of the shots here were taken in the Latin Quarter. The few taken in the stands along the banks of the Seine are the lone exceptions.
Good indy bookstore karma near the Sorbonne.
With Lenin on the Seine. In this case, the right bank.
Slovenia’s hero Zizek is everywhere.
Shop windows – political passions welcome
Anyone read The End of Work?
What the mood of the day? Dada or Groucho?
Marilyn infatuation knows no boundaries
I bet you didn’t know that Dumas wrote a dictionary of cuisine.
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These snaps are this week’s somewhat late contribution for Travel Photo Thursday (#TPThursday on twitter) hosted by Nancie on her website, Budget Travelers Sandbox. When you have few minutes to browse, check out Nancie’s photos and those of others who take part. You’ll see some great photos and visit some wonderful places. The direct link this week is here.
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McCurry in Ljubljana, Thru June 17
There won’t be too many of you who won’t recognize this iconic photo taken by Steve McCurry, whose work will be on exhibit at Ljubljana Castle through June 17.
McCurry popped into town today for tonight’s official opening, hosted by Slovenian President Danilo Turk. A facebook friend was kind enough to send me an invitation, but a late hour work-related boondoggle came up and kept me away. Call me Cinderfella. At least I’ve got the next month-and-a-half to make it up castle hill to check it out. If you’re in Ljubljana between now and mid-June, you should too.
More on the exhibit on the castle website. Admission 10 €.
Related articles
- Famed Photographer Steve McCurry Launches New Online Presence That Showcases Thousands of His Images (prweb.com)
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LJ Pic of the Day
This is another shot of one of my favorite sculptures in Ljubljana, a memorial at Žale Cemetery for civilians killed during the German occupation of Ljubljana during the second World War.
I posted another of the same sculpture about a year-and-a-half ago and another four years before that, during the first week of the LJ Pic a Day chore, back in January 2007. It’s a very sobering monument, one I never tire of looking at.
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LJ Pic of the Day Hits 40, International Museum Day Reminder
Considering it took me more than five years to manage a period of 40 (!) straight LJ Pic of Day postings, it’s no wonder that this otherwise subdued dude, permanently stationed in front of the Museum of Modern Art, is shouting the news to anyone who’ll listen.
Which reminds me: Friday 18 May is International Museum Day, and all museums and galleries in Ljubljana will be participating as well, offering free admission, special workshops, lectures, and more. Here’s a good starting point for a museum directory. Ljubljana in Your Pocket has a very good, continually update culture and events listing with plenty of museum, gallery and exhibit links.
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Reflecting..
.. on precisely what it means that I’ve managed to post a daily photo from Ljubljana for a record 39th straight day. When I figure it out, I’ll let you know.
