Pool Reflection

Guangdong, 2010

Lilypads and lines reflected in a pool at the internationally acclaimed Crosswaters Ecolodge I showcased in an earlier post here. Mouse over to see the image in color.

Joining global reflection hunters at Weekend Reflections and monochrome enthusiasts at Weekend in Black and White.

[SkyWatch] Variable Skies

We've been seeing a lot of this lately, and no, sad to say, it's not a monochrome... just a dreary gray, even when the sun tries hard to poke her head through the clouds.

But at times it did get better... with fluffy white clouds in a brilliant blue sky.

And then there was best, a sunset over the bay, making the nameless bridge a mere silhouette.

Manila, 2011

Check out the hundreds of amazing skies from around the world linked at SkyWatch Friday. And you'll find interesting bridges at Sunday Bridges.

U is for Urban Art

On my business trips from Asia to America, I am sometimes able to add a a few days to meet up with a friend. One such rendezvous happened in June of 2003 with my longtime friend Leesa, an urban art consultant in Vancouver. 

Leesa works with municipalities and developers to integrate commissioned art into public spaces in order to create significance for the people who use those spaces. (We are not talking graffiti.)

She wanted to check out how the Los Angeles Metro was implementing its highly praised public art program, and I was game to tag along. 

From bus stops to rail stations, streetscapes to bus interiors, construction fences to poetry, Metro’s Art Department has commissioned more than 300 artists since being established in 1989. [source]

We explored the Green Line and were delighted with the way artists had woven their stories into the environment: walls, ground, seats, stairs.

Here are just a few of the photos I got. You can read about the artists and their project descriptions on Metro's excellent website.

[photos enlarge when clicked]

Los Angeles, 2003

Do you agree with me that Metro achieved its goal?

Metro commissions artists to create engaging and thought-provoking artworks to make your journey more inviting and pleasurable. The artworks weave a multi-layered cultural tapestry that mirrors Los Angeles County’s rich contemporary and popular cultures.

[Source: LA Metro Art Guide]

Besides having quality face-to-face time, Leesa and I had a blast riding the Metro. Today you can take a free Metro Art Tour on the first Thursday and Saturday of the month. When next I return to LA, I will surely continue to explore this people-friendly transit system.

U is the letter at Jenny's Alphabe-Thursday. Go check out how others creatively play with this letter.

H is for Horsepower

 Romania, 2011

It excites me that no matter how much machinery replaces the horse, the work it can do is still measured in horsepower.....even in this space age.  And although a riding horse often weighs half a ton, and a big drafter a full ton, either can be led about by a piece of string if he has been wisely trained. This to me is a constant source of wonder, and challenge.

     ~ Marguret Henry, American author (1902-1997)

 

A new morning... a new hard day for beasts of burden. For both man and his horse. And so it has been since the New Stone Age, roughly 10,000 years ago, when man transformed from forager to farmer.

[all photos can be enlarged with a click]

Then came the Industrial Revolution with its machinery. Since these new inventions often replaced the work of horses, it was considered useful to compare the output of machines with the power of draft horses.

Did you know that one horsepower equals 33,000 foot-pounds per minute? So it was determined by James Watt of the unit of power fame.

The story goes that Watt was working with ponies lifting coal at a coal mine, and he wanted a way to talk about the power available from one of these animals. He found that, on average, a mine pony could do 22,000 foot-pounds of work in a minute. He then increased that number by 50 percent and pegged the measurement of horsepower at 33,000 foot-pounds of work in one minute. It is that arbitrary unit of measure that has made its way down through the centuries and now appears on your car, your lawn mower, your chain saw and even in some cases your vacuum cleaner. [source: How Stuff Works]

To learn what other units horsepower are converted to, read here.

The letter of the week is H and this is my link for ABC Wednesday.

[Our World] Queasy Stomach? Don't Read This.

Most Asian visitors to this blog post won't comprehend my title. What's the big deal, they'll ask? But the rest of you...? If you do not have an adventurous palate, or you are vehemently vegan, this post may not appeal to you.

For Our World today I want to tell you how something outwardly repugnant can be oh so delicious. I am referring to chicken feet.

Wikipedia explains:

Chicken feet are a part of the chicken that is eaten in Chinese, Trinidadian, Jamaican, South African, Peruvian, Dominican, and Philippine cuisine. Most of the edible meat on the feet consists of skin and tendons, without much muscle. This gives the feet a distinct texture different from the rest of the chicken's meat. There are many small bones which makes it difficult to eat for some; these are often picked out before serving. Being mostly cartilage, chicken feet are very gelatinous.

I venture to say that people are put off because the feet are, not to mince words, hideously ugly.

Manila, 2011

But that makes them nonetheless tasty. Oh, and for the curious, the hard yellow scaly outer skin the live chicken stomps around the yard on is removed, usually before the feet get to the market.

There are a number of standard Chinese recipes for chicken feet. Perhaps the most famous is the dim style in black bean sauce. My honey stews them with black eyed peas, preserved bean curd, peppercorns, cloves and laurel leaves. Served with garlic stir-fried bok choy and a red-brown rice combo, and we've got a perfect meal.

To eat the feet, you bite off a piece at a joint, roll it around your mouth to chew off anything that is soft, then, as gracefully as possible, spit out the bones. Yumm!

Decades ago, my European-bred mother would have been mortified at the thought of any of this. But over the years, as she traveled to visit me, she too came to appreciate the wonders of Asian cuisines.

So, have I totally grossed you out? What is your favorite "strange" dish?

Dong Bridge

Guizhou, 2006

This is a Wind and Water Bridge built by the Dong ethnic minority people in Guizhou province of China. I find it interesting that the first one I posted (here) ranks as one of the top ten viewed pages on my blog.

Linking with Sunday Bridges and Scenic Sunday.

Puddle Reflection I

Manila, 2011

An old government building reflected in a puddle.

This is a James shot - surely understood by those who follow his meme... Enlarge it to appreciate fully.

And it's linked with Weekend Reflections and Weekend in Black and White.