Henri Matisse, Femme au chapeau, 1905, Collection SFMOMA 
SFMOMA Media Preview. After OJ and muffins, a group of about 20 media folks (writers, bloggers, radio, etc.) were treated to short introductory welcomes by the director, Neal Benezra, and several of his assistants in various departments (please speak LOUDER). We were then turned loose to explore the contemporary post-1960 works on the fifth floor and a superbly reorganized collection of permanent art on the second floor. While the more dramatic art on the fifth was up to speed, the second floor proved to be stunning; after a dozen years of mundane display, this is now the best floor in the museum. I am amazed. A modern museum improving with age? Now, please do something about your first floor, home to echoes and not much else. Like add art. Lots of sculptures and weird concrete do-dads. And move your ticket booth to the second floor. First floor free. Yeah! For more information, visit their website at www.smoma.org.
Wednesday, June 30, 2004
SF MOMA Summer Shows
Tuesday, June 29, 2004
Highest Bridge in the World
Bridge, Southern France
Span of French Millau bridge, world highest, is completed
MILLAU, France (AFP) - Engineers brought the two central ends of the Millau road viaduct in southwest France together, completing the span of the highest bridge in the world. The road surface is 270 metres above ground, a world record, and the total structure, with suspension cables added will be 343 metres (1,132 feet) above ground at its highest point or 23 metres higher than the Eiffel Tower. The bridge, along the most direct route from Paris to the Mediterranean, is to be opened in late 2004 after 40 months of construction. Motorists will be charged 4.6 euros (5.6 dollars) for a journey.
Friday, June 25, 2004
New Guinea Man Dressed for Festivities
Photo by Carl Parkes I took this photograph in Papua New Guinea, 1991.
Mysterious Gigantic Dump Truck Discovered in Wyoming
Mysterious Gigantic Dump Truck to be Drived by Gigantic People from The Lost Quarter
It's bigger than the average family house, holds impossible loads of dirt, coal, copper or gold ore, and has a top speed of over 60 kilometres per hour. The truck weighs in empty at 224 tons and can carry loads of 400 tons - with an overall possible total of 624 tons. The 3650-horsepower diesel engine generates power for two electric motors in the rear axles, so it's more like a huge electric railroad locomotive than a conventional truck. Cost $3 million, and generally used in coal mines in Wyoming and Australia, copper mines in Chile, iron extraction in South Africa. It's like driving a house.
Mysterious Giant Human Skeleton Discovered in Saudi Arabia
Mysterious Human Skeleton Discovered in Saudi Arabia
Recent gas exploration activity in the south east region of the Arabian desert uncovered a skeletal remains of a human of phenomenal size. This region of the Arabian desert is called the Empty Quarter, or in Arabic, 'Rab-Ul-Khalee'. The discovery was made by the Aramco Exploration team. As God states in the Quran that He had created people of phenomenal size the like of which He has not created since. These were the people of Aad where Prophet Hud was sent. They were very tall, big, and very powerful, such that they could put their arms around a tree trunk and uproot it. Later these people, who were given all the power, turned against God and the Prophet and transgressed beyond all boundaries set by God. As a result they were destroyed.
Ulema's of Saudi Arabia believe these to be the remains of the people of Aad. Saudi Military has secured the whole area and no one is allowed to enter except the ARAMCO personnel. It has been kept in secrecy, but a military helicopter took some pictures from the air and one of the pictures leaked out into the internet in Saudi Arabia. See the attachment and note the size of the two men standing in the picture in comparison to the size of the skeleton.
Thursday, June 24, 2004
Wednesday, June 23, 2004
Monday, June 21, 2004
Tallest Buildings in the World - Part 2
Tallest Buildings in the World - Part 2
World’s Tallest” Confirmed for Taiwan
Chicago . . . The Council on Tall Buildings and Urban Habitat’s Height Committee, after reviewing its height criteria, has officially designated Taiwan’s Taipei 101 as the “World’s Tallest”. The initial announcement was made by CTBUH Chairman, Ron Klemencic, at the Structural Engineers Foundation of Illinois’ 2004 Lecture on April 15 in Chicago, where members of the Taipei 101 design team made a presentation on the construction of the building. Measured to the architectural top, Taipei 101 has a height of 508m, which places it above Malaysia’s twin Petronas Towers, measuring in at 452m. Chicago’s Sears Tower now moves into fourth place at 442m, followed by the Jin Mao Building in Shanghai at 421m.
The CTBUH official criteria states that “The height of a building is measured from the sidewalk level of the main entrance to the architectural top of the building, including penthouse and tower. Towers include spires and pinnacles. Television and radio antennas, masts, and flag poles are not included.” In 1996 the Council voted to expand the data gathered to include three additional height categories – Highest Occupied Floor, Top of the Roof, and Top of Pinnacle or Antenna. Although the Sears Tower held the record in these three categories, Taipei 101 has now taken over two of the three, with the Sears Tower remaining as the record holder for Top of Pinnacle or Antenna at 527m.
World Map of Places I've Traveled
World Places I've Traveled
This world map shows places I've visited over the last 30 years. Hopefully, I'll be adding more red in the next few decades. You can create your own map, then add it to your blog or website by visiting:
create your own visited country map
Saturday, June 19, 2004
Friday, June 18, 2004
Attack Hyenas in Nigeria
Who Called out the Dogs?
OK, so you borrowed a few bucks to buy that rice cooker, and now somebody wants your payback. Ignore that at your peril. Debt collectors in Nigeria now use hyenas and baboons to intimidate debtors. Snarl!
Airliner Lands in the Caribbean (real photo!)
This is an Air France flight on a Boeing 747-228BM, landing on St. Maarten Island in the Netherlands Antilles, October 28, 2001. More great airline photos and background at www.airliners.net, including another photo of the plane taken by the guy directly under the front wheel of the landing craft.
Wednesday, June 16, 2004
Tallest Building in the World - Dubai (2008)
From their website: Burj Dubai will be the world's tallest tower and the centerpiece of the Gulf regions most prestigious urban development to date. Burj Dubai will radiate out in a series of ellipses from the sky breaking tower encompassing residential, commercial, hotel, entertainment, and the world largest shopping mall. The Chicago-based Skidmore, Owings & Merrill architectural consultants have drawn their inspiration from the historical influences of the Gulf. Petronas Towers in Malaysia (452 metres) and the Chicago's Sears Tower (442 meters) are currently the world's highest man made towers. Recently Shanghai, China and the New York World Trade Centre have announced plans to exceed these records, though Burj Dubai, with an anticipated completion date of 2008, will beat all records.
Thursday, June 10, 2004
India, Palace Guard in Rajasthan
Photo by Carl Parkes
From December 1979 to April 1980 I traveled around the Indian subcontinent, from Calcutta up to Kathmandu then south via the Ganges River to Agra, Delhi, Rajasthan, and finally south to Goa, Kerala and Sri Lanka. During this six months in the region, along with a bus full of crazed European hippies and one very fun Jew from New York who claimed to be the owner of Studio 54, I spent several weeks in the Rajasthan desert near the Pakistani border. This finely bearded fellow served as a palace guard in Udaipur and was only most happy to pose for a photo.
