Art for art's sake

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Intermezzo stordito
2008-02-02 22:07:00
During my business trip to Houston, we have passed the 100000 visitors mark. Thanks all for your continued visits, even though the pace of the blog has dropped considerably over the past few months.
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Buildings [31]: BMW Welt Munich
2008-01-26 16:37:00
This marvellously designed building houses the new BMW museum. It was opened last year in Munich and is based on a design by the architecture firm Cop Himmelb(l)au. I was first alerted to this new building by the great pictures on Flickr by one of my favourite photographers there, Yushimoto_02.
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My own photography [19]
2008-01-23 21:18:00
A shot from earlier this month, taken in a store for modern design furniture with my new Canon.
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Web sites [16]: Sudoku
2008-01-23 20:35:00
OK, I admit - I have become addicted to this Japanese puzzle form. From Wikipedia: Sudoku is a logic-based number placement puzzle. The objective is to fill a 9×9 grid so that each column, each row, and each of the nine 3×3 boxes (also called blocks or regions) contains the digits from 1 to 9, only one time each (that is, exclusively). The puzzle setter provides a partially completed grid. The puzzle was invented by an American architect, Howard Garns, in 1979 and published by Dell Magazines under the name "Number Place". It became popular in Japan in 1986, after it was published by Nikoli and given the name Sudoku, meaning single number. It became an international hit in 2005. There is something fascinating about how with such little to work with, each puzzle has a new feeling to it. The reason why I am posting this is that I would like to draw attention for other Sudoku addicts to the website Websudoku, where you can play with these puzzles on-line. There are four levels of diff...
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The best pop/rock songs [57]
2008-01-20 12:49:00
Sarah McLachanHere we go again with a helping of ten of my all-time favourites...A trick of the tail (Genesis, 1976 - 4:34 - 9/10)The title song from their first Gabriel-less album, an album which ranks in my all-time top 10. Curiously, this song receives quite some flac from progrock lovers, who deem it too poppy. Granted, it is not the best track of the album (Mad man moon, Entangled and Ripples are superior), but it is a beautiful little song in its own right. Its poppy melody fits well with the folk song story of a horned, tailed creature who ventures into the human world, only to end up being seen as "a freak or a publicity stunt" by the humans. He escapes and back home he is the one to point at the strangeness of humans: "They got no horns and they got no tails/They don't even know of our existence." A somewhat hidden message against discrimination.Nightporter (Japan, 1980 - 6:57 - 10/10)One of the signature tunes by the phenomenal New Romantics band Japan is the marvellous N...
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Symphonic poems [5]: Honegger's Pacific231 and Rugby
2008-01-13 15:41:00
This series is one of many that has suffered from my blog fatique, but here is another installment. Arthur Honegger (1892 - 1955) was a Swiss composer, who was born in France and lived a large part of his life in Paris. Two of his compositions are often mentioned in discussions on symphonic poems, but as far as I know they are nowadays rarely schedueld in concerts and not frequently recorded either. Pacific231 from 1923 is perhaps the best know, a 6 minute orhcestral showpiece inspired by the sounds of a locomotive. The other one included here is Rugby from 1928, which depicts a rugby match in music in 8 minutes. Thee versions I am posting are by the Symphony Orchestra of the Bayerischen Rundfunk under Charles Dutoit. They are taken from an Erato CD (88171) that also contains his first symphony and two other short pieces.MP3: Pacific231.MP3: Rugby.
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Flickr Flavours [27c]
2008-01-12 21:46:00
Ode to Opus Originally uploaded by ...*melissa*...
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Flickr Flavours [27b]
2008-01-12 21:43:00
the point Originally uploaded by BigAlTaz
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Flickr Flavours [27a]
2008-01-12 21:40:00
Wings Originally uploaded by firerainchild
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Bridges [15]: Arthur Ravenel Jr. Bridge
2008-01-12 18:32:00
Time to resume this theme within my blog. I was triggered to post something about this bridge after seeing a shot of it on Flickr. The Arthur Ravenel Jr. Bridge , also known as the Cooper River Bridge, is a cable-stayed bridge over the Cooper River in South Carolina, connecting downtown Charleston to Mount Pleasant. The eight lane bridge satisfied the capacity of U.S. Highway 17 when it opened in 2005 to replace two obsolete cantilever truss bridges. The bridge has a main span of 1,546 feet (471 m), the longest among cable-stayed bridges in the Western Hemisphere. More on this one in Wikipedia.
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Flickr tips [4]: Postprocessing
2008-01-05 14:02:00
There was a time that I posted my photographs straight from the camera to the internet - but since a few weeks I have succumbed to the powers of post-processing. There is no need for expensive programs like Photoshop to do this, the freeware Picasa is to my taste good enough. Nowadays, I standard go through the following Picasa treatments on the shot from my camera:1. straighten where necessary (especially tilted horizons are a nuisance)2. crop to the shot I want3. sharpen one notch4. optional: black and white conversion5. play with shadows, light and colour saturation until I'm statisfied.Using this standard procedure I produced the above shot from the original (handheld Konica 4MPx, max zoom):
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Flickr news
2008-01-04 19:44:00
Once more one of my shots has been selected as the admin's choice for the best 13 pictures of the month in the excellent Flickr comments pool Life thru a Lenz: top row, third from left.
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My own photography [16]
2007-10-30 21:29:00
After yesterday's Flickr selection on autumn, one of my own.... Not my most popular autmn shot (that would be this one), but one that I like very much.
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Flickr Flavours [22]
2007-10-29 18:34:00
An autumn special... Coming home... Originally uploaded by Hankye99 The Fallen Originally uploaded by ♥ Colpo di fulmine ♥ MUSHROOMS=:) Originally uploaded by DiAichner3
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Symphonies [23]: Meale's Symphony 1
2007-10-28 12:59:00
It is surprisingly difficult to find a decent picture of the contemporary Australian composer Richard Meal e (1932) on the internet. Initially firmly part of the avant garde amongst Australian composers, Meale experienced a stylistic rethink in the 70s, abandoning an exclusively atonal approach for a polytonal approach, and in later works embracing a frank tonality, with fin-de-siecle overtones, whilst retaining an individual voice. His first (and as far as I know so far only) symphony was composed in 1994. It is a one movement piece, inspired by Islamic art and Shelley poems. This version is by the Adelaide Symphony Orchestra under David Porcelijn. It is taken from an ABC CLassics CD (8770015), which also includes his Scenes from Mer de Glace, and Viridian. A worthwhile introduction to this interesting composer, who has been called a contemporary romantic, but whose music is certainly original.MP3: Meale's Symphony 1.
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Photography [39]: Thomas McFarlane
2007-10-27 15:37:00
One of my absolute favourites within Flickr is Thomas McFarlane, a professional photographer from the USA. Especially his artistic nudes and semi-nudes are amongst the best I have ever seen (I have selected a non-nude for this post, as I know some readers are from countries where nude sculputures have been dressed at the order of the authorities). His Flickr page shows off his incredible talent. If you do not mind artistic nudity, be sure to check out the Vanessa set on his page - simply unbelievably beautiful.
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Fun with Photoshop (from Worth1000) [2]
2007-10-27 06:31:00
More intriguing photoshop work from the site Wort h1000, this time from their contest Deadly Cute. I have had a thing for dragons ever since I started to frequent the internet and chose the name Dragon Phoenix for most boards I visited. Moreover, this cute little one reminds me a bit of Terry Pratchett's swamp dragons, although they are supposedly a little bit bigger. This great image is by a member called oilcorner.
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Web sites [14]: Optical illusions
2007-10-24 12:14:00
A simple question - and if you have never seen this before, you will be stunned. Which square is darker, A or B?The right answer: they are exactly the same shade of grey. The eye tricks you in thinking they are different: when interpreted as a 3-dimensional scene, our visual system immediately estimates a lighting vector and uses this to judge the property of the material.If you find this as intriguing as I do, hop over to the marvellous web site Optical illusions and visual phenomena, where over 70 of these illusions are gathered in a very illustrative way (many including helpful flash programmes to help you see what is really there).
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Flickr Flavours [21]
2007-10-24 11:56:00
Got it, Honey? You should scratch right here! Originally uploaded by Firenzesca AloneOriginally uploaded by nicolas valentin pinkwings?Originally uploaded by Lars van de Goor
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The best pop/rock songs [53]
2007-10-21 11:24:00
The EurythmicsTen more of my all-time favourite songs for you to critique, enjoy, explore or reminiscnece about.Sunday, bloody Sunday (U2, 1983 - 4:42 - 9/10)Musically, there have been better protests against the senseless violence of the civil war in Northern Ireland, such as Zombie (Cranberries), Belfast child (Simple Minds) and above all Through the barricades (Spandau Ballet). From a lyrics and pure emotion point of view though, Sunday bloody Sunday from their third album War tops them all. The song was inspired by the Bloody Sunday massacre: to protest you needed permission from the government, and one Sunday some 10,000 people went on a march for civil rights and the Para's opened fire and killed 13. This theme is set against some of the most relentlessly pushed melodies and rhythms they ever made.The only living boy in New York (Simon and Garfunkel, 1970 - 3:54 - 9/10)Bridge over troubled water was the last album that Simon and Garfunkel recorded together - and they knew it....
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Fun with Photoshop (from Worth1000) [1]
2007-10-20 09:19:00
We have encountered the site Wort h1000 before, on the topic of bizarre architecture. In this new series, I will be highlighting some of the more successful entries in their continuous topic challenges. This one comes from the series The best of Worth A, with the topic of art work to hang on the wall. It is called Voices and was created by their member Echoburst.
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Flickr Flavours [20]
2007-10-17 10:20:00
Day 214: Peacock's Pride Originally uploaded by ♥ Diamond Lips ♥ DL School bus in the raindrops Originally uploaded by yellowrubberduck Boy's Night Out Originally uploaded by sunny-drunk
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Unusual concertos [4a]: Harmonica revisited
2007-10-16 21:56:00
Earlier this week I asked for more comments, and got a few reactions. One of them asked for Villa-Lobos' 1955 neoclassical concerto for harmonica and orchestra. Well, here it is, as usual in 128 kbps, as the CD can still be purchased (e.g. directly from the excellent record company, Chandos). This version is by Tommy Reilly and the Rundfunkorchester des Suedwestfunks under Emmerich Smola (CHAN 9248).The movements:1. Allegro moderato [6:56]2. Andante [5:22]3. Allegro [5:17]MP3 (Sharebee): Villa-Lobos' harmonica concerto.
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The art of Lu Schaper [12]
2007-10-15 22:28:00
LU SCHAPER - Reflecting once more A fairly recent work of my wife. I am responsible for the title, a rather obvious play on words.[edit]Let me react on a joking comment that she has no face, because there is a reason for that. No, it is not like some people at exhibitions suggested that she does not know how to paint a face. She has decided some years ago to leave the faces open in order for the people who see her work to make up their own mind and mentally fill it in. In addition, being a Chinese in Europe, she would have to opt for either Oriental or a non-Oriental eyes, a choice which in her mind would restrict the observer.

My own photography [16]
2007-10-15 21:11:00
This recent picture of mine is doing pretty well on Flickr recently - at the moment 16 times faved and counting. It was shot one early morning on my way to work in Amsterdam. More of my own photography in my blog Konikachrome.This post is also a bit of a place holder, whilst I consider where to take this blog. I find it somewhat disappointing that about 50 people voted for the current string quartet and symphonic poems series - and that so far comments are typically 1 (if at all) for a post. I am not looking for a "great job!" or "thank you" post, but I would appreciate some more feedback. Are these typically the sort of examples you were hoping for when you voted? Did you like what I post? Any suggestions?
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Flickr Flavours [19]
2007-10-13 16:23:00
DSC_6116 Originally uploaded by den_dijk Sombras Originally uploaded by danidm Many thanks to the rain Originally uploaded by julien `
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Unusual concertos [38]: Coloratura soprano
2007-10-13 15:22:00
With this highly unusual concertante "instrument" we close out this series for the time being - save for two unusual concertos for the usual piano and violin, respectively. To my knowledge, this is one of the few concertos for coloratura soprano and orchestra - Reinhold Gliere's opus 82. The Russian composer Gliere (1875-1956) is far more interesting than many give him credit for. For instance, his third symphony ranks for me as one of the finest of the twentieth century. This concerto for coloratura soprano (wordless) dates back to 1942-1943 and is in a clear late romantic idiom. The soloist in this recording is none other than Dame Joan Sutherland, with the London Symphony Orchestra under Richard Bonynge. It is taken from a Decca CD (4300062) that also contains Gliere's harp concerto, Glazunovs violin concerto and some short works.The movements:1. Andante [6:25]2. Allegro [5:03]MP3 (Sharebee): Gliere's coloratura soprano concerto.The following concertos have been considered for...
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Flickr Flavours [18]
2007-10-12 14:57:00
Donde andas? Originally uploaded by risquillo Fungi Originally uploaded by Number Six purple love Originally uploaded by sundance73
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Symphonic poems [3]: Lyadovs Triptych
2007-10-12 11:42:00
The Russian composer Anatoly Konstantinovich Lyadov or Liadov (1855-1914) is nowadays almost exclusively remembered for the three short symphonic poems that he composed: Baba Yaga Op. 56, The Enchanted Lake Op. 62, Kikimora Op. 63. The theme of the first one is the same as in one of Mussorgsky's famous Pictures at an exhibition: Baba Yaga is a Russian fairy tale figure, an ugly hag that flies through the air and eats children. The enchanted lake deals with spirits eager to draw humans down to their death in the waters. Finally, Kikimora is based on a more relaxed theme, an ancient Russian domestic spirit that helps industrious house wifes. These three compositions are very much in the Romantic idiom, and well worth hearing. I include all three here in view of the brevity (3-6 minutes each). They are performed by the Slowak Philharmonic Orchestra under Stephen Gunzenhauser, taken from a Naxos CD (8550328) dedicated to Russian music, including short compositions by Ippolitov-Ivanov, ...
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My own photography [15]
2007-10-10 21:28:00
The same image as depicted in #14 of this series, but now photoshopped to pink. I made an exception on my own rule not to affect my pictures by photoshopping, but this is for a good cause. In honor of Breast Cancer Awareness Month, Yahoo! is donating $1 to Susan G. Komen for the Cure for each pink photo added to the Flickr pool Passionately Pink for the Cure, up to a maximum of $50,000. With this one and three others from me added, the total is now already exceeding $40,000!
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