Saturday, November 16, 2013

Amazing Commuters Do 30 Squats for a Free Train Ticket in Moscow


In anticipation of the 2014 Winter Olympics set to be held in Sochi, Russia, the city of Moscow decided to install a train ticket dispensing machine that offers commuters a free ride for completing 30 full squats in a row. Situated right next to the usual ticket vending machines where travelers can purchase rides, each special kiosk includes a short, blue pathway that leads to a mat with footprints on it for participants to stand on.
Once they're prepared, the machine starts a quick countdown and records each squat the person does in front of the machine. The fun, interactive installation is one that gets the people in the city excited for the Olympics while also promoting healthy activity. President of the Russian Olympic Committee Alexander Zhukov says, "We wanted to show that the Olympic Games is not just an international competition that people watch on TV, but that it is also about getting everyone involved in a sporting lifestyle."
The machines offering free rides for squats will be available for one month. Shortly thereafter, the Winter Olympics are scheduled to begin on February 7, 2014.



 

Tuesday, November 12, 2013

Adroable Colorful Siamese Fighting Fish


Visarute Angkatavanich gets incredibly close up to capture these stunning portraits of Siamese fighting fish in graceful, dancerly poses. The Thai photographer uses perfectly placed lighting to create the dramatic highlights and shadows that give personality to each little finned creature.
The photographs convey a sense of elegance that sits in direct contrast to the territorial nature of the popular freshwater aquarium fish. As they twist and turn and form captivating curves, Angkatavanich times his shots perfectly to capture the magnificence of the individual forms. His subjects are set against either a stark black or white background and the beauty of the flowing fins is playfully complemented by each naturally fierce facial expression.












Monday, November 4, 2013

Amazing loating Cycle Roundabout

For many Dutch people, their preferred mode of transportation is the bicycle. According to one estimate, every single day 14 million bicycle trips are made in Holland! Not surprisingly the country is well equipped with bicycle paths; bicycle traffic and safety is taken very seriously in the planning of infrastructure.

Hovenring — A Suspended Bicycle Roundabout

A magnificent example is the The Hovenring, a suspended bicycle path roundabout on the border between Eindhoven and Veldhoven. It is the first suspended bicycle roundabout in the world and was opened up for the public in June 2012 allowing bicycles to travel safely above the highly trafficked streets crossing below. Designed by ipv Delft, the bridge comprises a 70-metre high pylon, 24 steel cables and a circular bridge deck and is made out of circa 1.000 tons of steel.

Hovenring — A Suspended Bicycle Roundabout

The Hovenring is a suspended bicycle path roundabout on the border between Eindhoven and Veldhoven in the Netherlands. It is the first suspended bicycle roundabout in the world.

The Hovenring is a suspended bicycle path roundabout on the border between Eindhoven and Veldhoven in the Netherlands. It is the first suspended bicycle roundabout in the world.

The Hovenring is a suspended bicycle path roundabout on the border between Eindhoven and Veldhoven in the Netherlands. It is the first suspended bicycle roundabout in the world.

The Hovenring is a suspended bicycle path roundabout on the border between Eindhoven and Veldhoven in the Netherlands. It is the first suspended bicycle roundabout in the world.

The Hovenring is a suspended bicycle path roundabout on the border between Eindhoven and Veldhoven in the Netherlands. It is the first suspended bicycle roundabout in the world.

The Hovenring is a suspended bicycle path roundabout on the border between Eindhoven and Veldhoven in the Netherlands. It is the first suspended bicycle roundabout in the world.

The Hovenring is a suspended bicycle path roundabout on the border between Eindhoven and Veldhoven in the Netherlands. It is the first suspended bicycle roundabout in the world.

The Hovenring is a suspended bicycle path roundabout on the border between Eindhoven and Veldhoven in the Netherlands. It is the first suspended bicycle roundabout in the world.

The Hovenring is a suspended bicycle path roundabout on the border between Eindhoven and Veldhoven in the Netherlands. It is the first suspended bicycle roundabout in the world.

The Hovenring is a suspended bicycle path roundabout on the border between Eindhoven and Veldhoven in the Netherlands. It is the first suspended bicycle roundabout in the world.
The Hovenring is a suspended bicycle path roundabout on the border between Eindhoven and Veldhoven in the Netherlands. It is the first suspended bicycle roundabout in the world. 


Sunday, November 3, 2013

Norway 800 Year Old Stave Church in Borgund

Norway is the only country in Northern Europe with wooden churches from the Middle Ages still intact. During the Middle Ages, when immense cathedrals were being built in stone in other places in Europe, a similar technique was developed in Norway for building in wood. Boat construction and home building in the Viking times had developed the technique and tradition of combining art with wood working. This culminated in the stave churches. The stave churches are a particularly valuable part of the Norwegian architectural heritage, and are considered to be of national and global importance.

This is one of Norway's stave churches. Stave churches are typically some 8m (26ft) tall made entirely from wood without a single nail. They are the most elaborate type of wooden construction found in northern Europe. Borgund's stave church was built over 800 years ago.
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Norway's oldest wooden church is Urnes Stave Church in Luster by the Sognefjord. It is also the only stave church to feature on the prestigious UNESCO World Heritage List. Built in 1150, it was once a private church for a powerful family. Its builders were aware of international trends in architecture, and transferred these trends from stone to wood. The interior of the church is exceptionally richly decorated with motifs from real life such as elk and doves, but also imaginary centaurs and dragons. This decoration has become known as the Urnes style.



Borgund Stave Church in Norway
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Urnes Stave Church
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Norway's oldest wooden church
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Northern Europe with wooden churches from the Middle Ages
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Norway's oldest wooden church is Urnes Stave Church
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churches in Norway called stavkirka
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XII century Church in Norway
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XII century Church in Europe
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Borgund stavkyrkje Church
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Norway's 28 extant stave church
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Church in Borgund, Norwegian architectural heritage
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Stave Church in Luster by the Sognefjord
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This is one of Norway's stave churches. Stave churches are typically some 8m (26ft) tall made entirely from wood without a single nail. They are the most elaborate type of wooden construction found in northern Europe. Borgund's stave church was built over 800 years ago.
Photo — Link

800 year old stave church in Borgund, Norway
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800 year old stave church in Borgund, Norway
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800 year old stave church in Borgund, Norway
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800 year old stave church in Borgund, Norway
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800 year old stave church in Borgund, Norway
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800 year old stave church in Borgund, Norway

World Best Land of the Giant Mushrooms

Bunker and dictator Enver Hoxha's of Albania — During the nearly forty-year leadership of Communist dictator Enver Hoxha of the People's Socialist Republic of Albania, over 700,000 bunkers were built in the country – one for every four inhabitants. The bunkers (Albanian: bunkerët) are still a ubiquitous sight in Albania, with an average of 24 bunkers for every square kilometer of the country.

Bunkers in Albania
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Hoxha's programme of "bunkerisation" resulted in the construction of bunkers in every corner of Albania, from mountain passes to city streets. They had little military value and were never used for their intended purpose during the years of Communist rule (1945–1990). The cost of constructing them was a drain on Albania's resources, diverting them away from more pressing needs, such as dealing with the country's housing shortage and poor roads.

Bunker dictator Enver Hoxha's Albania
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The bunkers were abandoned following the collapse of communism in 1990. Most are now derelict, though some have been reused for a variety of purposes including residential accommodation, cafés, storehouses and shelters for animals or the homeless. A few briefly saw use in the Balkan conflicts of the 1990s. From the end of World War II to his death in April 1985, Enver Hoxha pursued a style of politics informed by hardline Stalinism as well as elements of Maoism. He broke with the Soviet Union after Nikita Khrushchev embarked on his reformist Khrushchev Thaw, withdrew Albania from the Warsaw Pact in 1968 in protest of the Warsaw Pact invasion of Czechoslovakia, and broke with the People's Republic of China after U.S. President Richard Nixon's 1972 visit to China.

Enver Hoxha ruled Albania from 1945 to 1985 and had a great passion for "paranoia" to the bunkers.
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His regime was also hostile towards the country's immediate neighbours. Albania did not end its state of war with Greece, left over from the Second World War, until as late as 1987 – two years after Hoxha's death – due to suspicions about Greek territorial ambitions in southern Albania (known to Greeks as Northern Epirus).

Albanian: bunkerët
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Hoxha was virulently hostile towards the more moderate communist government of Josip Broz Tito in the Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia, accusing Tito's government of maintaining "an anti-Marxist and chauvinistic attitude towards our Party, our State, and our people." He asserted that Tito intended to take over Albania and make it into the seventh republic of Yugoslavia, and castigated the Yugoslav government's treatment of ethnic Albanians in Kosovo, claiming that "Yugoslav leaders are pursuing a policy of extermination there."

Land of the Giant Mushrooms: Albania's 750,000 Cold War Bunkers
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Albania still maintained some links with the outside world at this time, trading with neutral countries, such as Austria and Sweden, and establishing links across the Adriatic Sea with its former colonial power Italy. However, a modest relaxation of domestic controls was curtailed by Hoxha in 1973 with a renewed wave of repression and purges directed against individuals, the young and the military, whom he feared might threaten his hold on the country. A new constitution was introduced in 1976 that increased the Communist Party's control of the country, limited private property and forbade foreign loans. The country sank into a decade of paranoid isolation and economic stagnation, virtually cut off from the outside world. [wiki]

Awaiting the Enemy That Never Came: The Bunkers of Albania
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Bunker in the Albanian Alps
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Hoxha's logic was that the USSR would attack Albania
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Albania is riddled with decaying Soviet-era bunkers
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Bunkers on the Albanian Riviera
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Bunkers on the Albanian Riviera
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The Snake That Bit The Land: Bunkers of Alabania
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Albania is riddled with decaying Soviet-era bunkers
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Bunkers on the beach of Albania
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Bunkers on the beach of Albania
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Bunkers in the city of Albania
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Bunkers in the city of Albania
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Bunkers in the city of Albania
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Bunkers in the city of Albania
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Bunkers in the city of Albania
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Bunkers in the city of Albania
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Bunkers on the beach of Albania
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Bunkers in the city of Albania
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Bunkers on the beach of Albania
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Bunkers in the city of Albania
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Bunkers in the field of Albania
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Bunkers in the field of Albania
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Bunkers in the field of Albania
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Bunkers on the Mountain of Albania
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Bunkers on the Mountain of Albania
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Bunkers on the Mountain of Albania
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Bunkers in the City of Albania
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Bunkers in the City of Albania
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Bunkers in the City of Albania
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Bunkers in the City of Albania
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Bunkers in the Park of Albania
Photo — Link, Land of the Giant Mushrooms — Albania's Cold War Bunkers