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| No through road for mythical saviours |
Now I know!
Showing posts with label Paris. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Paris. Show all posts
Wednesday, 14 August 2013
No through road
This is an interesting take on graffiti on road signs. I've posted some Parisian road sign graffiti before, but this is a new one on me. No through road for mythical characters here!
Its interesting though. When I see people wearing a cross around their necks I usually find myself wanting to ask what the T stands for.
Now I know!
Now I know!
Tuesday, 13 August 2013
More Parisian Graffiti
I have often featured interesting graffiti on Something Surprising. Near the Pompidou Centre in Paris is this amazing face painted on a wall. Is it graffiti or, given its location, art?
My feeling is that it is too good to be considered as modern art of the type favoured for modern art galleries.
I'll settle for calling it good graffiti.
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| Graffiti or art - near the Pompidou Centre in Paris |
My feeling is that it is too good to be considered as modern art of the type favoured for modern art galleries.
I'll settle for calling it good graffiti.
Monday, 12 August 2013
Physics on the Metro
Have you ever spotted how the air moves on metro trains?
On ordinary trains with short carriages there is often a flow of air through the carriage as the train moves along. It brings blessed relief on those hot summer days!
But something different happens on those trains that are open from one end to the other, and the effect depends strongly on the number of people on the train.
If the train is fairly empty, you get a strong rush of air from the front to the back as it accelerates. Quite often the train accelerates in steps, and you get repeated breezes of different strengths, correlating well with the driver's actions. Then as the train slows down, the air rushes to the front of the train.
This shows that the mass of air inside the train has to be pushed to get it to speed up and slow down. The push comes from a pressure gradient which is set up as the train changes velocity. That gradient is established by filling one end of the train with more air, increasing the local pressure.
I had spotted this happening on a journey on an empty train. The following day on the same metro line I was expecting to observe the same effect. However, it happened to a much less noticeable extent. What was different? The train was full of people standing. That meant that the air flow was significantly better damped.
The effect is also much clearer if you sit near the middle of the train than it is at the ends - obviously. After a week of observations I think this is good(ish) physics.
On the other hand . . . on another journey I watched a roller skater walking down stairs (very carefully) and then rolling along the platform. As he slowed himself down he spread his feet wide apart, lowering his centre of gravity. To stop himself he brought them sharply back together, lifting his whole body a few centimetres. It appeared to me at first sight that he had converted his kinetic energy into potential energy in doing this - but on reflection that is not consistent with conservation of momentum. This wasn't good physics after all.
Perhaps it was just a flourish in his performance after all.
Isn't physics fun? It gets everywhere!
On ordinary trains with short carriages there is often a flow of air through the carriage as the train moves along. It brings blessed relief on those hot summer days!
But something different happens on those trains that are open from one end to the other, and the effect depends strongly on the number of people on the train.
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| One of those long un-divided trains on Paris metro line 1 |
If the train is fairly empty, you get a strong rush of air from the front to the back as it accelerates. Quite often the train accelerates in steps, and you get repeated breezes of different strengths, correlating well with the driver's actions. Then as the train slows down, the air rushes to the front of the train.
This shows that the mass of air inside the train has to be pushed to get it to speed up and slow down. The push comes from a pressure gradient which is set up as the train changes velocity. That gradient is established by filling one end of the train with more air, increasing the local pressure.
I had spotted this happening on a journey on an empty train. The following day on the same metro line I was expecting to observe the same effect. However, it happened to a much less noticeable extent. What was different? The train was full of people standing. That meant that the air flow was significantly better damped.
The effect is also much clearer if you sit near the middle of the train than it is at the ends - obviously. After a week of observations I think this is good(ish) physics.
On the other hand . . . on another journey I watched a roller skater walking down stairs (very carefully) and then rolling along the platform. As he slowed himself down he spread his feet wide apart, lowering his centre of gravity. To stop himself he brought them sharply back together, lifting his whole body a few centimetres. It appeared to me at first sight that he had converted his kinetic energy into potential energy in doing this - but on reflection that is not consistent with conservation of momentum. This wasn't good physics after all.
Perhaps it was just a flourish in his performance after all.
Isn't physics fun? It gets everywhere!
Sunday, 11 August 2013
Hale and Hearty
Enjoying a visit to Paris, I like to spot words in French that have obviously migrated into English.
This week's word is 'hâlé' (pronounced ah-lay in French), meaning bronzed or sunburnt. I have no idea how to say the word in such a way as to distinguish it from the more common verb 'aller' meaning 'to go'. I assume that context is king.
Surely is is the origin of the English word 'hale'.
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| Eiffel Tower - just before it was evacuated on August 9th, 2013 |
This week's word is 'hâlé' (pronounced ah-lay in French), meaning bronzed or sunburnt. I have no idea how to say the word in such a way as to distinguish it from the more common verb 'aller' meaning 'to go'. I assume that context is king.
Surely is is the origin of the English word 'hale'.
Saturday, 10 August 2013
Liberty - for the week
I'm away, enjoying a week of holiday. Guess where I am.
It looks as though I might be in New York, but instead I find myself in Paris again, seeing some of the sites that I have never seen before, and visiting others, like this one, that I have seen from the train many times.
This is a 9m tall replica of the Statue of Liberty, and it can be found on the Isle des Cygnes in the middle of the River Seine.
Having walked the length of Isle des Cygnes I didn't see a single swan.
Did you know that is where we get the English word 'cygnet'?
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| Liberty, equality and fraternity |
It looks as though I might be in New York, but instead I find myself in Paris again, seeing some of the sites that I have never seen before, and visiting others, like this one, that I have seen from the train many times.
This is a 9m tall replica of the Statue of Liberty, and it can be found on the Isle des Cygnes in the middle of the River Seine.
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| Replica Statue of Liberty in Paris, on the Isle des Cygnes |
Did you know that is where we get the English word 'cygnet'?
Saturday, 8 December 2012
Graffiti in the heart of Paris
Seen on a wall in central Paris today, I was quite impressed by this graffiti!
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| Heart and lungs graffiti in Paris |
Monday, 26 November 2012
God plucks defeat from the jaws of victory
Have a really good look at one of those bible stories that are never told in church. Take two or three translations in order to get a good feel for the story. Starting at 2 Kings 3:21, we read a short story about how the Israelites tricked the Moabites into lowering their guard and moving in to finish off their enemy.
Having lured the Moabites into their trap, the Israelites they fell upon them and started to massacre them mercilessly. Then they pursued the Moabites to their own country, destroying property and land, and filling wells and (somehow stopping springs) as they went.
When it was clear that all was lost for the Moabites, and after a failed counter-strike by 700 swordsmen, their king resorted to one of the few measures remaining him. He sacrificed his own son on the city wall, presumably to another god (who doesn't even get named, but is probably called Chemosh, or Kemosh).
Suddenly the tables were turned and the Israelites fled in terror. It is not that the sacrifice of the eldest son was such a shock. It had been a common practise not far back in history, so it defies common sense to make such an assumption. Something else must have frightened them a lot.
Does this demonstrate something about all-knowing, all-powerful God, or does it relegate him to the position of a subordinate deity?
Stories like this always make me wonder why Christianity retained the Old Testament, or indeed if it did, why it kept the parts that are most embarrassing to its own cause.
Incidentally, an artifact in The Louvre called the Mesha Stele (or Moabite Stone) appears to correlate with the story from the bible. You can read about it in Wikipedia, and see a translation here. (I can't check for authenticity.) Whether this stone tablet refers to the same story or not, this relatively unknown story from the Old Testament still says something about God that most Christians and Jews would find inconvenient.
Explanations please?
Having lured the Moabites into their trap, the Israelites they fell upon them and started to massacre them mercilessly. Then they pursued the Moabites to their own country, destroying property and land, and filling wells and (somehow stopping springs) as they went.
When it was clear that all was lost for the Moabites, and after a failed counter-strike by 700 swordsmen, their king resorted to one of the few measures remaining him. He sacrificed his own son on the city wall, presumably to another god (who doesn't even get named, but is probably called Chemosh, or Kemosh).
Suddenly the tables were turned and the Israelites fled in terror. It is not that the sacrifice of the eldest son was such a shock. It had been a common practise not far back in history, so it defies common sense to make such an assumption. Something else must have frightened them a lot.
Does this demonstrate something about all-knowing, all-powerful God, or does it relegate him to the position of a subordinate deity?
Stories like this always make me wonder why Christianity retained the Old Testament, or indeed if it did, why it kept the parts that are most embarrassing to its own cause.
Incidentally, an artifact in The Louvre called the Mesha Stele (or Moabite Stone) appears to correlate with the story from the bible. You can read about it in Wikipedia, and see a translation here. (I can't check for authenticity.) Whether this stone tablet refers to the same story or not, this relatively unknown story from the Old Testament still says something about God that most Christians and Jews would find inconvenient.
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| Mesha Stele - The inconvenient Moabite Stone! |
Explanations please?
Friday, 16 November 2012
Cowboys in armour?
What an array of suits of armour! This photo was taken at Hotel des Invalides in Paris, during the 'pilgrimage' to Napoleon's tomb.
Presumably the smallest were for training the boys to fight in armour. Not particularly surprising I suppose.
But then I saw this metal hat, in a shape that is almost reminiscent of a cowboy's ten-gallon hat.
Presumably all the little fittings were there for a reason, along with the curved shape of the brim on the left-hand side.
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| Suits of armour at Hotel des Invalides |
Presumably the smallest were for training the boys to fight in armour. Not particularly surprising I suppose.
But then I saw this metal hat, in a shape that is almost reminiscent of a cowboy's ten-gallon hat.
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| Interesting armoured hat |
Presumably all the little fittings were there for a reason, along with the curved shape of the brim on the left-hand side.
Monday, 12 November 2012
Rainbow over La Bastille
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| Paris - a rainbow over the Bastille monument (in fact a double rainbow if you look askance) |
Saturday, 10 November 2012
Two-headed puzzle
Following advice from French friends, this week has given the opportunity to visit a few more new places in Paris.
One asked me "Why would an Englishman want to see Napoleon's tomb? To spit on it?" and I replied that the past is a foreign country and that I didn't need to go there to gloat any more than I boast that I went to the same school as William Wilberforce (who was instrumental in the abolition of slavery).
You can find photos of the tomb anywhere, but this carved head provided a moment of surprise walking back out of the Hotel des Invalides.
What is the point of representing two heads in one like this?
Any ideas? It must mean something.
One asked me "Why would an Englishman want to see Napoleon's tomb? To spit on it?" and I replied that the past is a foreign country and that I didn't need to go there to gloat any more than I boast that I went to the same school as William Wilberforce (who was instrumental in the abolition of slavery).
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| Two-headed |
You can find photos of the tomb anywhere, but this carved head provided a moment of surprise walking back out of the Hotel des Invalides.
What is the point of representing two heads in one like this?
Any ideas? It must mean something.
Friday, 9 November 2012
Surprisingly embarrassed by a name
Naming our daughter 18 years ago, it never crossed my mind that she would go to university in Paris, or that that chance event would give me a chance to get to know the city so well. This is my fourth (and longest) visit this year.
More than that I would never have realised that the French have terrible difficulty in pronouncing her name.
Further still, it has taken over a month for her to discover that the French word for deer mating (like the English word 'rut') sounds very similar to their attempts to pronounce 'Ruth'.
You can't blame her for considering using her middle name for the next three years.
Small note: I'm not laughing at her, but 'sympatising' with her.
More than that I would never have realised that the French have terrible difficulty in pronouncing her name.
Further still, it has taken over a month for her to discover that the French word for deer mating (like the English word 'rut') sounds very similar to their attempts to pronounce 'Ruth'.
You can't blame her for considering using her middle name for the next three years.
Small note: I'm not laughing at her, but 'sympatising' with her.
Thursday, 8 November 2012
Surprising Parisienne souvenirs
A six-day trip to Paris got off to a bad start, while trying to negotiate the ticket barrier at the station with luggage. The advice is to push your luggage ahead of you. The gates close immediately behind you, trapping the luggage very effectively - almost irredeemably!
What they don't warn you about (and I should have thought about) is that if the luggage that you are pushing hits something and stops, you end up tumbling to the floor, and in my case putting out my right hand to arrest my fall.
Net result - a visit to hospital and a souvenir from Paris that I didn't expect.
Nothing was broken, just bruised and somewhat 'pénible' - or at least that is what I think they told me, and they were right and still are.
Only one word was spoken in English during the visit to the hospital, and that one didn't help. The experience tested my French language skills to close to the limit.
I can even claim to have enjoyed it!
Typing was a bit slower than usual for a day or two. Over the next few days a few more Parisienne delights will appear . . . probably interspersed between other things.
Small note: Now waiting for the bill to arrive in the post!
What they don't warn you about (and I should have thought about) is that if the luggage that you are pushing hits something and stops, you end up tumbling to the floor, and in my case putting out my right hand to arrest my fall.
Net result - a visit to hospital and a souvenir from Paris that I didn't expect.
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| An X-ray of the author's right hand, from two angles! |
Nothing was broken, just bruised and somewhat 'pénible' - or at least that is what I think they told me, and they were right and still are.
Only one word was spoken in English during the visit to the hospital, and that one didn't help. The experience tested my French language skills to close to the limit.
I can even claim to have enjoyed it!
Typing was a bit slower than usual for a day or two. Over the next few days a few more Parisienne delights will appear . . . probably interspersed between other things.
Small note: Now waiting for the bill to arrive in the post!
Tuesday, 9 October 2012
Art or graffiti?
Seeing a sign like this one in Paris, one might wonder whether this is art or graffiti.
If graffiti, then it has been executed very carefully. If art, I think it is rather amusing.
If graffiti, then it has been executed very carefully. If art, I think it is rather amusing.
Thursday, 4 October 2012
A helicopter in a piano shop
Walking through Versailles (near Paris) late one evening last week, I saw someone standing stiffly in a well lit piano showroom. The shop was closed at the time, but on looking more carefully I was surprised to see what he was doing.
Flying between the beautiful new instruments was a radio controlled helicopter, impressively controlled. I didn't dare to take a photo ( or at least I didn't think the resulting image would have been of high enough quality anyway).
Quelle surprise!
Flying between the beautiful new instruments was a radio controlled helicopter, impressively controlled. I didn't dare to take a photo ( or at least I didn't think the resulting image would have been of high enough quality anyway).
Quelle surprise!
Friday, 21 September 2012
Satire must do everything it can
There is a German saying which translates roughly as "Satire must do everything it can", and today as France closes 20 embassies around the world because of a cartoon, that saying ought to be our motto. Standing up for freedom of speech is THAT important.
This morning I actually heard a Muslim speaker, Fatima Malik saying that violent reactions to the publications of images of Mohamed were unjustified. Now don't get too excited. She didn't condemn the criminals outright, or mention what an outrageous concept it is to go wrecking property just because someone somewhere drew a picture. She didn't even call for the perpetrators to be publicly ostracised or imprisoned . . . or even stoned to death as is the penalty for really serious crimes like damaging a copy of the qu'ran.
What is all the fuss about? You won't find a copy of this cartoon on the politically correct pages of the BBC. There is no doubt that the picture is designed to be inflammatory but it does need to be seen, not censored.
Whether you think it is funny or not, one thing is certain in my mind. Radical and violent Islamism needs to be mocked. We must not stand for censorship in our own countries because some other culture doesn't like what we say. What do you do when a three year old child has a temper tantrum? Certainly you shouldn't change your actions because of their irrational actions, so what is the difference here?
I'll be in Paris for a few days of the next week. I might try to buy a copy of the magazine, because I do believe that satire must do everything that it can and that it is time for the Islamists just to grow up.
This morning I actually heard a Muslim speaker, Fatima Malik saying that violent reactions to the publications of images of Mohamed were unjustified. Now don't get too excited. She didn't condemn the criminals outright, or mention what an outrageous concept it is to go wrecking property just because someone somewhere drew a picture. She didn't even call for the perpetrators to be publicly ostracised or imprisoned . . . or even stoned to death as is the penalty for really serious crimes like damaging a copy of the qu'ran.
What is all the fuss about? You won't find a copy of this cartoon on the politically correct pages of the BBC. There is no doubt that the picture is designed to be inflammatory but it does need to be seen, not censored.
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| Charlie Hebdo magazine's controversial cover, featuring the latest Mohamed cartoon to hit the news. |
Whether you think it is funny or not, one thing is certain in my mind. Radical and violent Islamism needs to be mocked. We must not stand for censorship in our own countries because some other culture doesn't like what we say. What do you do when a three year old child has a temper tantrum? Certainly you shouldn't change your actions because of their irrational actions, so what is the difference here?
I'll be in Paris for a few days of the next week. I might try to buy a copy of the magazine, because I do believe that satire must do everything that it can and that it is time for the Islamists just to grow up.
Wednesday, 5 September 2012
Make no bones about it
Found on the pavement near the Hotel des Invalides in Paris last week, here is some humorous art.
Let's make no bones about it. It's quite innovative isn't it.
Speaking of Paris, one of the lovely people who helped last week with the task of finding an apartment spoke English beautifully. Just one small slip amused me. You may know that the H at the beginning of most words in French is silent, as in the English word 'honest'.
Its quite funny to hear the word 'honest' pronounced with a very-pronounced and audible Huh sound at the beginning. I smiled to myself and wished that my French was as good as her English.
English has its own faux-amis!
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| Drawn by a skeleton staff? |
Let's make no bones about it. It's quite innovative isn't it.
Speaking of Paris, one of the lovely people who helped last week with the task of finding an apartment spoke English beautifully. Just one small slip amused me. You may know that the H at the beginning of most words in French is silent, as in the English word 'honest'.
Its quite funny to hear the word 'honest' pronounced with a very-pronounced and audible Huh sound at the beginning. I smiled to myself and wished that my French was as good as her English.
English has its own faux-amis!
Monday, 27 February 2012
Greatest adversary of Yahweh
Following on from yesterday's post about finding the Ugaritic Texts in Musée du Louvre last weekend, here are some more detailed pictures of the tablets. You can find more about these tablets in a post last July about The Ugaritic Texts.
The first picture is of a tablet which says in the French commentary to the right that Baal was presented as the greatest adversary of Yahweh. I will not attempt to translate any of the others, but have added a relevant caption to each.
Their location in Musée du Louvre can be seen in yesterday's post.
The first picture is of a tablet which says in the French commentary to the right that Baal was presented as the greatest adversary of Yahweh. I will not attempt to translate any of the others, but have added a relevant caption to each.
Their location in Musée du Louvre can be seen in yesterday's post.
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| Ugaritic Texts - the greatest adversary of Yahweh |
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| Ugaritic Texts - Functionaries of a temple |
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| Ugaritic Texts -Legend of Danel |
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| Ugaritic Texts - Hierarchy of the gods of the kingdom of Ugarit |
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| Ugaritic Texts - Mythological poem of the life and death of Baal |
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| Ugaritic Texts - Mythological poem of the life and death of Baal (fragment) |
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| Ugaritic Texts -Birth of the gods |
Sunday, 26 February 2012
Finding the Ugaritic texts in the Louvre
Last July I wrote a series of articles about the gods of the Old Testament including a post about The Ugaritic Texts. Yes - I said 'gods' rather than God. It seems very clear that there was 'pantheon' of gods at the time and God (a.k.a Yahweh) was just one of them as you can read at that link.
Finding myself in Paris on a Saturday afternoon with no other commitments for a few hours, I took the opportunity yesterday to go to Musée du Louvre to look for the actual Ugaritic Text tablets and to see them for myself. Just having seen pictures of the tablets without seeing their context, I didn't have a good feel for the size of them or indeed the number of finds.
Finding them was a little tricky. Even asking one of the guides (and finding for the only time in 3 days that my French is not good enough) did not help. Sitting in the Mesopotamia rooms of the Louvre, at first I thought he was just one of those arrogant Parisiens that you hear about but don't often meet. After a while I realised that he was only arrogant because he was also ignorant of the archaeological treasures surrounding him.
C'est la vie! I found them a bit later all by myself, in room B of the ground floor area of the 'Sully' section of the Louvre. I gained access to that area through the 'Richelieu' wing. No doubt there might be easier ways to get there but I happened across some other interesting and famous artifacts on the way there. More about the amazing Code of Hamurabi in a few days time.
For today, here are a couple of photos of room B. Tomorrow I will post photos of some of the tablets themselves. First an overview of the room looking towards the North-East.
This is the cabinet containing the Ugaritic texts
and this is a bit more detail of the cabinet itself
More detail coming tomorrow, but just to finish this post on an incongruously surprising, lighter note, I thought you might smile at a sticker that I saw on a motor bike in Paris. At the least, it is an interesting example of 'Franglais'.
Finding myself in Paris on a Saturday afternoon with no other commitments for a few hours, I took the opportunity yesterday to go to Musée du Louvre to look for the actual Ugaritic Text tablets and to see them for myself. Just having seen pictures of the tablets without seeing their context, I didn't have a good feel for the size of them or indeed the number of finds.
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| Musée du Louvre, in February 2012 |
C'est la vie! I found them a bit later all by myself, in room B of the ground floor area of the 'Sully' section of the Louvre. I gained access to that area through the 'Richelieu' wing. No doubt there might be easier ways to get there but I happened across some other interesting and famous artifacts on the way there. More about the amazing Code of Hamurabi in a few days time.
For today, here are a couple of photos of room B. Tomorrow I will post photos of some of the tablets themselves. First an overview of the room looking towards the North-East.
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| Musée du Louvre, Sully, ground floor room B |
This is the cabinet containing the Ugaritic texts
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| Where in Musée du Louvre are the Ugaritic texts? In this cabinet. |
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| The cabinet containing the Ugaritic Texts in Musée du Louvre |
More detail coming tomorrow, but just to finish this post on an incongruously surprising, lighter note, I thought you might smile at a sticker that I saw on a motor bike in Paris. At the least, it is an interesting example of 'Franglais'.
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| J'adore rien - I'm parisien! |
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