Uploads from appaIoosa

FLICKR 20-05-2013

nobody@flickr.com (appaIoosa) — Tue, 21 May 2013 06:23:31 -0700

appaIoosa posted a photo:

Well, flickr dramatically revamped their website - unbeknownst and without warning to their users.

I can't say that I'm happy with the changes, and judging by the comments in the FLICKR Help Forum, many disgruntled users (close to 35,000 replies and counting - plus this one) are unhappy with the changes as well.

Some comments:
- "Visual cacophony.. Is this what passes for good graphic design in art school these days?"
- "...endless jumble"
"This new Flickr looks like Google Images."
- "INSTEAD of giving us MORE set up options from which we can choose how we want our photos displayed they have now forced upon us the infinite scroll view. "
- "...a community has been lost."

Not only were users not given the choice whether to upgade to the new look or keep the original (classic) design, but gone is the ability to pick and choose your layout.

Also, without providing any kind of comparison between the old and new layout, Flickr sneakily neglected to mention they had done away with the "unlimited" space for PRO accounts - which in the past cost 24.99$ per year - and will now charge 49.99$ - double what you've paid in the past.

Here is an excellent article on the whole Flickr fiasco:
www.macworld.co.uk/digitallifestyle/news/?newsid=3448611

This article pretty much sums up user sentiment:
www.infinitehollywood.com/the-new-flickr-sucks-and-heres-...

and this:
www.bbc.co.uk/news/technology-22608122

And here's a recent article on the flickr backlash:
www.ibtimes.co.uk/articles/469500/20130521/flickr-update-...

And there's even a petition to rollback Flickr to what it was:
petitions.moveon.org/sign/change-flickr-back?source=c.url...

.

Seeing Spots

nobody@flickr.com (appaIoosa) — Mon, 20 May 2013 16:59:52 -0700

appaIoosa posted a photo:

Petrodvorets (Peterhof) -- Cathedral of Saint Peter and Paul

nobody@flickr.com (appaIoosa) — Tue, 30 Apr 2013 11:20:50 -0700

appaIoosa posted a photo:

Day 2
Mon, 19-Sept-2011
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Built on orders by Tsar Alexander III and completed under Nicholas II in 1905. The church is located along Sankt Petersburgkiy Prospekt near the entrance to the famous Peterhof Summer Palace & Museum.

Like many buildings of Peterhof, it was severely damaged during the war (WW II) . The northern part of the cathedral was destroyed due to the fact that the temple was used by the Germans as a lookout, who watched the movements of Soviet ships. They tried to shoot down. Later on after the war, the church building was used as a storage for potatoes.

Saint Petersburg -- Mariinsky Palace

nobody@flickr.com (appaIoosa) — Tue, 30 Apr 2013 07:46:31 -0700

appaIoosa posted a photo:

Day 2
Mon, 19-Sept-2011
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The building is now used as the Saint Petersburg Legislative Assembly.

Located at the southern end of Saint Isaac's Square.

Saint Petersburg -- Saint Isaac's Square

nobody@flickr.com (appaIoosa) — Tue, 30 Apr 2013 07:45:56 -0700

appaIoosa posted a photo:

Day 2
Mon, 19-Sept-2011
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Bargain hunting for souvenirs in St. Isaac's Square (with Saint Isaac's Cathedral in the background).

Saint Petersburg --- Moyka River

nobody@flickr.com (appaIoosa) — Tue, 30 Apr 2013 07:45:10 -0700

appaIoosa posted a photo:

Day 2
Mon, 19-Sept-2011
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Looking towards the (I think) Green Bridge, from near Saint Isaac's Square.

GUNS (Flagstaff)

nobody@flickr.com (appaIoosa) — Mon, 29 Apr 2013 19:04:26 -0700

appaIoosa posted a photo:

Happiness Is A Worn Gun (article by Frank Baum)

Should I be worried?

Canadians on the whole are wary of the whole gun culture thing:
www.cbc.ca/canada/story/2010/09/22/f-gun-registry-maps-gr...

Saint Petersburg - State Hermitage Museum

nobody@flickr.com (appaIoosa) — Sun, 28 Apr 2013 16:43:16 -0700

appaIoosa posted a photo:

Day 3
Tues, 20-Sept-2011
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View of the Hermitage (and entrance) from the palace square courtyard.

Formerly known as the Winter Palace - playground to Russia's Imperial Tsars and Tsarina's (but the Russian Revoluton soon put a stop to all that - see Eisenstein's 1927 film "October: Ten Days That Shook the World")

I was told that if one wanted to view all the pieces of art hung in the State Hermitage, you would have to walk 24 miles, and it would take you nine years to look at everything! The Hermitage houses an incredible three million works of art, with only five percent of it on display at any given time. Those are mind-boggling statistics! With more than 400 exhibit halls and gilded salons, it's impossible to see everything here in a single day.

Official guided tours (in English) tend to be rushed & crowded, with long line ups. Consider hiring a private guide from outside the museum instead -- their licensing requires a year of study and training and they'll take their time explaining the artwork. During peak tourist season, or when there's a special exhibition, you may encounter long lines at the museum entrance. The Hermitage is closed on Mondays.

Saint Petersburg - State Hermitage Museum

nobody@flickr.com (appaIoosa) — Sun, 28 Apr 2013 16:42:41 -0700

appaIoosa posted a photo:

Day 3
Tues, 20-Sept-2011
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Armorial Hall of the Winter Palace.

Saint Petersburg - State Hermitage Museum

nobody@flickr.com (appaIoosa) — Sun, 28 Apr 2013 16:41:58 -0700

appaIoosa posted a photo:

Day 3
Tues, 20-Sept-2011
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The Throne Room (St. George Hall) -- with our guide, Elena.

Regarded as *the* throne room of Imperial Russia, the dais is dominated by red velvet, gold embossed emblem of the two-headed eagle (symbol of the Russian Imperial Family).

This is an interesting image:
commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Bundesarchiv_Bild_183-H28...
Perhaps most significantly (and historically), the Throne Room was the setting of the opening of the First State Duma (legislative assembly) under Tsar Nicholas II, in 1906. The Tsar was forced to agree to the establishment of a Duma as a concession to his people in an attempt to avert revolution. The Imperial family however, saw it as "the end of Russian autocracy".
It was the first time that ordinary Russians had been admitted to the palace in any number -- a surreal experience for both the peasants and the Imperial family. The Tsar's sister, who stood with the Imperial family on the steps of the throne, recalled of the masses of ordinary Russians who packed the hall: "I went with my mother to the first Duma. I remember the large group of deputies from among peasants and factory people. The peasants looked sullen. But the workmen were worse: they looked as though they hated us.

Saint Petersburg - State Hermitage Museum

nobody@flickr.com (appaIoosa) — Sun, 28 Apr 2013 16:41:11 -0700

appaIoosa posted a photo:

Day 3
Tues, 20-Sept-2011
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The War Galleria of 1812 -- portrait of Alexander I (1812). Alexander is shown mounted on Eclipse, a horse which Napoleon gave him.
- painting by Franz Kruger, 1837
oil on canvas

The gallery is the setting for 332 portraits of generals and military leaders who took part in Russia's victory over Napoleon's forces during the Patriotic War of 1812 (Napoleonic Wars).

Saint Petersburg - State Hermitage Museum

nobody@flickr.com (appaIoosa) — Sun, 28 Apr 2013 16:40:26 -0700

appaIoosa posted a photo:

Day 3
Tues, 20-Sept-2011
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The Raphael Loggias

See this link:
www.hermitagemuseum.org/html_En/05/hm5_5.html

Saint Petersburg - State Hermitage Museum

nobody@flickr.com (appaIoosa) — Sun, 28 Apr 2013 16:39:39 -0700

appaIoosa posted a photo:

Day 3
Tues, 20-Sept-2011
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The Raphael Loggias

See this link:
www.hermitagemuseum.org/html_En/05/hm5_5.html

Saint Petersburg - State Hermitage Museum

nobody@flickr.com (appaIoosa) — Sun, 28 Apr 2013 16:39:16 -0700

appaIoosa posted a photo:

Day 3
Tues, 20-Sept-2011
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The Peacock Clock - detail.

Designed by the famous London jeweler and goldsmith James Cox;
the clock consists of a gilded peacock on a branch, an owl in a cage, and a rooster.

The clock was purchased by Catherine the Great in 1781, and brought over in pieces to put in her museum collection. The clock is still in working order.

Over the past decades it has been wound once a week to activate the moving pieces—the peacock spreads its wings and turns in a circle, the rooster crows, and the owl opens and closes its eyes -- but recently the museum has cancelled this weekly ritual to save wear and tear on the aging mechanisms.

Saint Petersburg - State Hermitage Museum

nobody@flickr.com (appaIoosa) — Sun, 28 Apr 2013 16:39:10 -0700

appaIoosa posted a photo:

Day 3
Tues, 20-Sept-2011
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Group photo in front of the Hermitage (Winter Palace) from the palace square courtyard.

Saint Petersburg - Monument To Peter the Great

nobody@flickr.com (appaIoosa) — Sun, 28 Apr 2013 14:20:48 -0700

appaIoosa posted a photo:

Day 3
Tues, 20-Sept-2011
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Otherwise known as "The Bronze Horseman" (immortalized in Aleksander Pushkin's 1833 narrative poem -- the statue came to be known as the Bronze Horseman due to the poem's great influence and success). The statue portrays Peter the Great on his horse, right arm outstretched and pointing towards the River Neva in the west.

The statue is now one of the great symbols of Saint Petersburg; akin to the Statue of Liberty being an icon of New York City (both statues were designed and built by French artists).

Saint Petersburg - Saint Isaac's Square

nobody@flickr.com (appaIoosa) — Sun, 28 Apr 2013 13:39:50 -0700

appaIoosa posted a photo:

Day 3
Tues, 20-Sept-2011
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Facing Saint Isaac's Cathedral and (on the right) the Hotel Astoria.

This whole area is steeped in history. The place was overrun by Germans during WW II, and indeed, Hitler was so confident as to the fall of Leningrad that he had invitations printed with the hotel's address in advance of his victory celebrations.

We all know how that turned out ;-)

Saint Petersburg - Detail From Saint Isaac's Cathedral

nobody@flickr.com (appaIoosa) — Sun, 28 Apr 2013 13:39:10 -0700

appaIoosa posted a photo:

Day 3
Tues, 20-Sept-2011
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Saint Isaac's Square.

Western portico entrance detail: "St. Isaac blessing the Emperor Theodosius and his wife Flaccilla"

See this link for more fascinating info: www.nevsky-prospekt.com/isaacs.html

Saint Petersburg - Nicholas I Monument

nobody@flickr.com (appaIoosa) — Sun, 28 Apr 2013 13:38:47 -0700

appaIoosa posted a photo:

Day 3
Tues, 20-Sept-2011
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Located in Saint Isaac's Square, across from the Cathedral. The monument was a technical wonder for its time -- it was the first equestrian statue in Europe with only two support points (the rear hooves of the horse).

Saint Petersburg - Nicholas I Monument

nobody@flickr.com (appaIoosa) — Sun, 28 Apr 2013 13:38:33 -0700

appaIoosa posted a photo: