Each skyscraper in Chicago is continuation of History of Skyscrapers which has begun for a city in 1885 with building Home Insurance Building. "Tower" in height of 42 meters (plus two floors have been completed in 1891, having finished height to 50 meters) became the first-ever building exceeding level in five floors. New Aqua Tower — height of 250 meters, the sculptural facade of a structure creating illusion of waves is unique.
The Unique Architectural Structure
Calcareous rocks, characteristic for area of Great Lakes became a prototype of a wavy facade. Such architectural decision it has not only visual value, and is functional; waves are used as viewing platforms, and also a shadow veil. Building parameters; 82 floors, 250 meters in height, 215 hotel rooms (with 1 on 18 floor), 476 apartments (with 19 on 52 floor), 5,100 sq. m. trading and office areas, an underground parking, a 8-storeyed cellar a total area of 32,000 sq. m., a terrace with gardens, pools, arbors, paths for walks and run.
When I was a junior or senior in high school I interviewed my favorite English teacher (I was on my high school's newspaper) about the books you must read before you go to college. I found a list online and then I asked him what he thought were the top twenty-five quintessential books to read before college. I remember Upton Sinclair's The Jungle was on the list. He said, "Oh, that is a really important book historically but I wouldn't say it's a must read." Or something like that. I'm paraphrasing from three or four years ago so don't hold him accountable. I don't know if this book is a must read before college, I don't know if I would have dug it in high school. I'm pretty sure I would have hated it. But right now, as a twenty-year-old college student, I loved it in spite of myself. Yeah, I loved The Jungle.
Everyone, and I mean everyone says The Jungle is about the meatpacking industry in Chicago around 1906. That is not what The Jungle is about. I'll just set the record straight on that right now. Sure, Jurgis, the main character, works in the meatpacking district in Chicago around 1906, off and on, for awhile. But he also works about every other job an immigrant would do in an industrious city. And he encounters every problem and immigrant would encounter in an industrious city. Jurgis comes with his family from Lithuania to find a better life. He believes he will be able to make more money, have a better lifestyle, and get everything he wants. He thinks he will have freedom.
But there are problems. Jurgis and his family don't speak English, and they are taken advantage of in every way possible because of this. It is cold in Chicago, and sometimes his family cannot make it home. They buy a home they cannot afford, and they think it's a new home when it turns out it's just a freshly painted rat's nest. He gets jobs, then gets fired for various reasons. The women in his family are forced to go to work, which is fine at first but turns into something problematic. A lot of people are annoyed by the fact that all of this stuff happens to one family, which would never happen in real life. But Jurgis and his family represent a lot more than that. They represent an entire generation of immigrants searching for freedom that does not exist.
Oh, did I mention this is kind of a socialist book? It is, and it all comes at the end. It's socialist fireworks basically. But it's a good read, I think. Sinclair uses the death of the animals in the meatpacking district as a way to understand the way immigrants are treated by those above them in factories. I loved how beastly Jurgis becomes as he moves through the book. At one point I think he is actually foaming at the mouth. I'll warn you that this is a difficult book to get yourself to read, but once you read it you will be glad you did.
This novel earned a B.
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Two pavilions which should become a tribute of memory Daniel Burnham which will note 100-year-old anniversary, have opened in Millennium Park (Chicago). Designers — two modern legends: Ben van Berkel and Zaha Hadid. Though, pavilion Zaha Hadid has been left unfinished, but pavilion opening even in a semikind has received the good criticism: “the Aluminium design of pavilion bewitches, to crowd has very much liked”, — has told Sallie Gaines, the press-secretary of action.
Burnham Pavilions by Ben van Berkel & Zaha Hadid
Expecting pavilion Zaha Hadid opening, it is possible to receive now already aesthetic pleasure from the second work, pavilion Ben van Berkel. It consists of two parallel panels, a roof and a floor, connected by three support. The pavilion will be highlighted especially at night.
To receive the maximum impressions, you need to walk very quickly on pavilion.
I've become obsessed with drawing recently. I used to draw all the time in high school and when I got to college I just stopped. I can't explain it. Luckily I just go Make Yourself Happy by Lucy Knisley while I was in Chicago from this great store called Quimby's Bookstore. Make Yourself Happy was a staff recommendation, and even though I couldn't really figure out what the book was about I really wanted to buy a graphic novel I'd never even seen before. So I got this one. Apparently Lucy Knisley is most well known for her graphic travelogue, French Milk
, which I've heard of but never read. Make Yourself Happy is a collection of journals from 2009-2010, which cover her life as a 24-year-old graduate student, published artist, and all around awesome person.
What I most enjoyed about Make Yourself Happy was Knisley's outright honesty. She loves She's the Man, Pride and Prejudice, she reads romance, she feels bad about herself, she's selfish, and she is lazy. Basically, she is a twenty-something girl living in Chicago-- which was an experience I could totally relate to. Knisley is easy to love because she's just like your best friend. She doesn't try to be hip, she doesn't try to be anything. I love the inner dialogue in the HourLies, which are a series of short comments for each hour of the day. They are two panels usually, and just show the most important things from that hour. These were great because they made me think back over the course of my day and realize how many observations I could have saved through writing or drawing, but didn't.
The longer portion of the book is a travelogue of a trip to Paris Lucy took with her boyfriend during the summer. She is totally paranoid in the beginning, attempting to plan outfits that will make her look romantic and beautiful, only to get to Paris and spend a lot of the time in her underwear (understandable). In the travelogue she includes found objects, like a written poem, as well as larger, more detailed drawings. The travelogue appears about 3/4 of the way through the book, which is perfect timing because we get a break from her regular routine and see something different, but we've also gotten to known her up to that point so can understand her more fully in this new environment.
I really loved Make Yourself Happy and I'm quickly becoming obsessed with Lucy Knisley's work, which you should check out at her website. Make Yourself Happy is self-published by Knisley and can be purchased from her website for $15. Worth every penny.
I give this graphic journal an A.
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Today's Award Winning Wednesday post is the first that isn't being written about books I read during this challenge. I read two of Jim Murphy's award winners long before this challenge started. But, since the Newbery Non-fiction winners get a little overlooked (in my opinion) I wanted to talk about some of it today.
Jim Murphy wrote The Great Fire (the big Chicago fire) and An American Plague (about the yellow fever epidemic in 1793). He's written many, many other books, but these are his Newbery Honor winners that I've read. (He might have one or two more, but I can't remember off hand).
I believe Jim Murphy to be a pretty much perfect writer of non-fiction for children. His writing is very easy to follow, easy to understand but it isn't basic. He doesn't dumb the history down, or assume that his readers are going to be stupid. And, something I believe to be very important when writing history for young kids — he tells the history like a story. It makes it more interesting for kids (... for adults too, actually) and the storyline is easier to follow because it's not just a parade of facts.
And Jim includes 'characters'. He'll pull real life experiences and thoughts/writings from people who lived through the event and include their experiences, and when possible, he includes photographs of them. It gives people something to latch onto, something to focus and follow, and I think it works wonderfully.
Murphy's books also include a lot of pictures, maps and writings from the actual event, and most pages include at least a small image. It gives you something to focus on and it gives you a frame of reference. In The Great Fire, every so often there is a full two page sized map of Chicago, and it shows the spread of the fire as you read about it in the book. So the street names and locations that Murphy mentions are more meaningful, because you can see the fire overtake them on these maps.
These are really great books to give to kids interested in the history of a time period, or for kids needing to write a report and unsure how to research. (More on him later, but Russell Freedman is also a Newbery nonfiction author, although he does biographies and is great to keep in mind if you work with kids) I'm interested in reading more by Murphy, even some if his that aren't Newbery titles. These are great for kids, and great starting points for adults who are interested to learn more. I highly recommend Murphy.
Iraq's government is investigating reports that the ancient archaeological site of Khorsabad in northern Iraq is the latest to be attacked by the Islamic State militant group.The foundations of an ancient palace in the Assyrian city of Khorsabad which has reportedly been looted and destroyed by Islamic State militants near the Iraqi city of Mosul [Credit: Polaris]
Adel Shirshab, the country's tourism and antiquities minister, told The Associated Press there are concerns the militants will remove artifacts and damage the site, located 15 kilometers (9 miles) northeast of Mosul. Saeed Mamuzini, a Kurdish official from Mosul, told the AP that the militants had already begun demolishing the Khorsabad site on Sunday, citing multiple witnesses.
On Friday, the group razed 3,000-year old Nimrud and on Saturday, they bulldozed 2,000-year old Hatra — both UNESCO world heritage sites. U.N. Secretary General Ban Ki Moon has called the destruction a "war crime," and a statement by his spokesman on Sunday night said Ban was "outraged by the continuing destruction of cultural heritage in Iraq" by theIslamic State group.
Khorsabad was constructed as a new capital of Assyria by King Sargon II shortly after he came to power in 721 B.C. and abandoned after his death in 705 B.C. It features a 24-meter thick wall with a stone foundation and seven gates.
Since it was a single-era capital, few objects linked to Sargon II himself were found. However, the site is renowned for shedding light on Assyrian art and architecture.
The sculptured stone slabs that once lined the palace walls are now displayed in museums in Baghdad, Paris, London and Chicago.
The Islamic State group currently controls about a third of Iraq and Syria. The Sunni extremist group has been campaigning to purge ancient relics they say promote idolatry that violates their fundamentalist interpretation of Islamic law. A video released last week shows them smashing artifacts in the Mosul museum and in January, the group burned hundreds of books from the Mosul library and Mosul University, including many rare manuscripts.
At a press conference earlier Sunday, Shirshab said they have called for an extraordinary session of the U.N. Security Council to address the crisis in Iraq.
"The world should bear the responsibility and put an end to the atrocities of the militants, otherwise I think the terrorist groups will continue with their violent acts," he said.
I'm pleased to announce the first author to be featured is Elizabeth Massie. First, a bit of information on Elizabeth, taken from her website.
Elizabeth Jane Spilman Massie was born and raised in Waynesboro, Virginia, a town in the beautiful Shenandoah Valley. Tended by a newspaperman/journalist father and watercolorist mother, she and her two sisters and one brother grew up surrounded by words, paintings, pets, open-minded attitudes, and wild senses of humor. She was a dreadful student; she rarely paid attention in class and frequently got bad marks on her report card for not "working to her potential." Little did the teachers know that the daydreaming, the goofy drawings, and the angst-ridden stories she was doing in class instead of the assigned science/social studies/math, would some day have some relevance.
She taught in public schools in Augusta County, Virginia from 1975-1994. During those years she married Roger Massie, had two children (Erin, born in 1976 and Brian, born in 1979) and sold many of her wacky pen and ink/watercolor pictures at art shows around the state.
This was also the time she began writing in earnest. Her first horror short story, "Whittler," was published in The Horror Show in the winter 1984 edition, along with the first published story by good friend and horror author, Brian Hodge. Many other story sales followed, in mags such as Deathrealm, Grue, Footsteps, Gauntlet, Iniquities, The Blood Review, After Hours, The Tome, and many more, as well as anthologies such as Borderlands, Borderlands III, Best New Horror 2, Dead End: City Limits, Women of Darkness, Best New Fantasy and Horror 4, Hottest Blood, New Masterpieces of Horror, Revelations, and many others. Beth's novella, Stephen (Borderlands) was awarded the Bram Stoker Award and was a World Fantasy award finalist.
Elizabeth added horror novels to her repertoire in the early 1990's, and has since published the Bram Stoker-winning Sineater, Welcome Back to the Night, Wire Mesh Mothers, Dark Shadows: Dreams of the Dark (co-authored with Stephen Mark Rainey), Buffy the Vampire Slayer: Power of Persuasion, Twisted Branch (as Chris Blaine), and Homeplace. She has also had four story collections published: Southern Discomfort, Shadow Dreams, the extensive The Fear Report, and A Little Magenta Book of Mean Stories. Her bizarre poetry is included in the early 2004 anthology Devil's Wine, along with poems by Stephen King, Ray Bradbury, Peter Straub, and more. Presently, she is at work on a new novel about a haunted farm house and a bunch of new short fiction for various publications.
In the mid-1990s, Beth was divorced. She also branched out with her fiction and began to write historical novels for young adults and middle grade readers. She has said, "There is a great deal of horror in history, so moving from one to the other wasn't that big a step for my creative thought processes. I love the idea of putting my mind back in time to experience what people years ago might have experienced. And damn, but some of that stuff was creepy!" Her works include the Young Founders series, the Daughters of Liberty trilogy, and The Great Chicago Fire: 1871.
On the side, Elizabeth also writes supplementary materials for educational publishers (both fiction and nonfiction) and continues to wield her inky pen and watercolors to create the characters of Skeeryvilletown. In her free time, she likes hiking and camping in the Blue Ridge Mountains, digging through antique stores, traveling roads on which she’s never traveled. She is also an active member of Amnesty International, the human rights organization to which she’s belonged since 1985.
Elizabeth still lives in the country in the Shenandoah Valley.
Be sure to check out my review of Massie's Bram Stoker Award winning novel, Sineater.
If you are a Virginia author, or know of one that would like to be featured, please contact me at jennsbookshelfATgmail.com or fill out my Contact Me form.
The Islamic State has burned ancient manuscripts and sold historical artifacts on the black market, an Iraqi official told an archaeological conference.Isis has imposed a 'tax' on looted antiquities in the vast region of Syria and Iraq it controls [Credit: Bonhams]
Qais Hussein Rashid of Iraq's Tourism and Antiquities Ministry, speaking at the Baghdad conference on the effects of IS on the country's antiquities, said that some sales of Iraqi artifacts on the international black market have been stopped. He added some artifacts of the country's Assyrian era, which can date back to 1900 B.C., have been sold, and 1,500 ancient manuscripts were burned.
He added that two important sites in Mosul, the shrines of Ibn Al-Atheer and the Prophet Yunus, were completely demolished by IS militants.
The mission of IS includes the destruction of religious artifacts pertinent to pre-Muslim times.
Tourism and Antiquities Minister Adel Shershab said archeological sites through Iraq have been destroyed, and asked "friendly countries to take a genuine stand to restore the stolen antiquities."
While the destruction has outraged the world, it can be regarded as a diversion from the sale of antiquities, which is helping fund IS activities, an American archaeologist suggested.
"There are people in the world who know what this stuff is worth, and it is very clear that at least part of the destruction of the Iraqi museum in 2003, that part of that, was induced by people on the outside getting dealers on the inside to go in and try to get specific things," said McGuire Gibson of the Oriental Institute at the University of Chicago. "There's archaeological work going on right now in Iraq, in places where it's relatively secure, work is going on. Whether or not it will be secure next week, we don't know, but we try to work when and where we can."
Edward Planch of the United Nations' UNESCO noted his organization is working with border agencies to recover artifacts seized at border checkpoints adjacent to Iraq and Syria.
"The objective is to have these surrounding countries with us, aware of the traffics, of the kinds of objects going out, able to seize the pieces and keep them in a safe place," Planch told the Voice of America, which noted many of the artifacts in the vandalized Mosul museum were catalogued digitally, a factor which could aid in their recovery.
Author: Ed Adamczyk | Source: UPI [March 13, 2015]
used while I was in Chicago. I'd been having this feeling for awhile that I really wanted to find a book no one had heard of. Something different and awesome from what you read reviews of all the time. I think I do an okay job of reviewing lesser known titles on my blog, alongside more well known books, but wanted something totally different. Getting Out of Town looked like it might be that book. The back cover says it's a short story collection, but I look at it more like The Imperfectionists, a series of stories that are all connected. It is short though, just over one hundred pages. I'm counting this as part of the November Novella Challenge. The story takes place in a small town in Canada and mostly focuses on Nancy McKinnon, a woman in love with a drunk.
Most of the book is about wanting to get out of a small town and starting a new life. I was interested in the treatment of women throughout this book. In this small town everyone's business is everyone's business, and if a woman has multiple sex partners everyone knows it. And she gets labeled a slut. There is not escaping that, it's branded on her as long as she stays in the town. This is one example of many brands people in the small town get stuck with. It's as if it's impossible to change in a small town because everyone knows of you as the slut or the drunk or the pervert.
While I enjoyed that aspect of the book, I have to say I was extremely disappointed overall. I felt the characters lacked depth, I didn't really know much about them outside their personas in the town. I found the narrative structure to be extremely difficult to follow, one story starting off at a completely different point from where the previous one ended. The language felt contrived. I hate the saying "Show don't tell," but reading this was very difficult because most sentences were just telling me "We did this... then we did that... I saw this... then I thought this." Very frustrating to read.
I know I'm being really hard on this book, and part of it might have to do with the fact that I was somewhat offended by the portrayal of small town life. Most of the characters in this book were in there thirties but they all acted like they were sixteen. And while this might be true for some people who live in small towns, it's also true for some people who live in suburbs or cities. I felt like the characters became caricatures, which is one of my biggest pet peeves. I feel a little bad being so harsh on this book considering I haven't found a review of it anywhere else, and I don't think anyone has read it on Goodreads, but I call them like I see them.
I give this book a D. It does have a very nice cover though, so kudos to the publisher for that.
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Thanks to Hachette Book Group USA, I have one copy of The American Journey of Barack Obama available to give away!
Description: For decades Americans have turned to LIFE to see, understand, and remember the most important events and people of our time. Just as LIFE once opened up the glittering Kennedy White House, LIFE now focuses its lens on Barack Obama. The American Journey of Barack Obama covers the candidate from his childhood and adolescence to his time as editor of The Harvard Law Review and his Chicago activist years, culminating with the excitement and fervor of the historic 2008 Democratic National Convention. The unfolding drama of Obama's life and political career is cinematic in scope, and never has it been presented so compellingly. In addition to a powerful array of photographs that were taken by many of the country's greatest photographers (and some that were snapped, in the quiet moments, by Obama family members themselves), this book also includes a Foreword by Senator Edward M. Kennedy, an incisive narrative biography and original essays by some of our finest writers, including Gay Talese, Charles Johnson, Melissa Fay Greene, Andrei Codrescu, Fay Weldon, Richard Norton Smith, Bob Greene and several others. Many readers will find a new understanding of Obama. All readers will feel that they are bearing witness to a singular, undeniably American story.
Contest ends November 15. To enter, just leave a comment. Open to US and Canadian residents only.
Book Description: Here at last is one Irish family's epic journey, capturing the tragedy and triumph of the Irish-American experience. In a rousing tale that echoes the myths and legends of Ireland herself, young Honora Keeley and Michael Kelly wed and start a family, inhabiting a hidden Ireland where fishermen and tenant farmers find solace in their ancient faith, songs, stories, and communal celebrations. Selling both their catch--and their crops--to survive, these people subsist on the potato crop--their only staple food. But when blight destroys the potatoes three times in four years, a callous government and uncaring landlords turn a natural disaster into The Great Starvation that will kill one million. Honora and Michael vow their children will live. The family joins two million other Irish refugees in one of the greatest rescues in human history: the Irish Emigration to America. Danger and hardship await them there. Honora and her unconventional sister Maire watch their seven sons as they transform Chicago from a frontier town to the "City of the Century", fight the Civil War, and enlist in the cause of Ireland's freedom. The Kelly clan is victorious. This heroic story sheds brilliant light on the ancestors of today's 44 million Irish Americans.
In the author's colorful and eclectic life, she has written and directed award-winning documentaries on Irish subjects, as well as the dramatic feature Proud. She's been an associate producer on Good Morning America and Saturday Night Live, written books on Martin Scorsese, World War II, and Bosnia, and a novel based on her experiences as a former nun - Special Intentions. She is a frequent contributor to Irish America Magazine and has a PhD in English and Irish literature.
Great news! Mary Pat Kelly will participate in a Blog Talk Radio interview at 11 AM ET on Tuesday, March 17. Click here for more information
Check back tomorrow for my review of Galway Bay!
Following are the other blogs participating in this tour:
I have talked about the Iowa City Book Festival quite a bit over the past few weeks and I'm sure those of you who aren't in Iowa are getting annoyed by me. But today is the actual festival! So after tomorrow I will shut-up about it, I promise. But for those of you who can't be here or those of you who are here who can't see me or for those of you who listened to me but forget what I said, I'm going to post my list of books I talked about during my talk today. These are my top five books I've read in the past year (basically, there are some I just didn't feel needed to be advertised as much, like Middlemarch, which I also advise you to read).
1. Notes from No Man's Land: American Essays
by Eula Biss. Yes, I'm recommending this book even though I've never reviewed it on this blog. It is a fabulous essay collection that deals with race, gender, age, and just growing up. You must read it. I read this book in two days a little over a year ago and I am still talking about it, so that should be a pretty good indication of how much I enjoyed it. And for fellow Iowans, there are many references to Iowa and Iowa City, as well as Chicago and New York. I haven't reviewed this book, but I did talk about on of Eula Biss's earlier essays. 2. The Creation of Eve
by Lynn Cullen. There have been several books about artists recently but this is by far the best, in my opinion. It is a historical fiction novel about Sofonisba Anguisolla, a female Renaissance painter who works in the court of Queen Elisabeth of Spain. I learned so much about gender restrictions in Spain through this novel, which is something I don't think I was ever interested in until I read this. I couldn't put this down. There is also sexual scandal that deals with Michelangelo, and some beautiful scenes about painting when Sofonisba is his student. Follow the link for my review of The Creation of Eve. 3. This Book Is Overdue!: How Librarians and Cybrarians Can Save Us All
by Marilyn Johnson. It's really no secret that I want to go into library science after I graduate, but that isn't the only reason I enjoyed this book. Johnson goes on several interviews across the East coast with librarians and those who love them. She meets librarians who network using the online game Second Life, librarians who teach people from underdeveloped countries so they can help their own countries, and librarians who love to blog. I learned a lot from this book and Johnson is incredibly witty which made a book that could have been a total snore become a joy to read. Follow the link for my review of This Book is Overdue! 4. The Imperfectionists
by Tom Rachman is a series of character sketches. It takes place in Rome and most of the characters work at an English language international newspaper or are somehow related to a person who does work there. Rachman does an amazing job of making every character unique, believable, and sympathetic. All of the characters connect somehow throughout the novel and somehow all have similar themes going through their lives. Like relationships, failed relationships, lost love, and death. By the end of this book you'll feel like you you just got to know a bunch of people at party, except you'll know them better than anyone you've met at a party. Follow the link for my review of The Imperfectionists. 5. The Luxe
by Anna Godbersen. I had to put some junk food on the list and out of all the junk food I've read in the past year The Luxe series is my favorite. I'm reading the third book, Envy, right now and I think I can safely say the series gets better as you go on. It's about a group of teenage girls in the early 1900's New Amsterdam, today Manhattan. They are rich, snobby brats and I love every minute of it. Penelope is new money and out to get everything she wants, no matter who she has to step on along the way. Elizabeth and Diana are sisters and from old money, but totally different. Elizabeth is in love with her chauffeur and is really looking for a more down-to-earth life than the one she lives, and she's a bit of a goody-two-shoes. Diana is much more interesting, she is dark and a bit moody, loves to sit and read, and thinks all the social airs her family puts on are stupid, she's just more vocal about it than her sister. Very dramatic. Follow the link for my review of The Luxe.
I actually haven't talked about my picks at the festival at this point, so if you're reading this and in Iowa City come see me at 1 PM today!
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At a sprawling Bronze Age cemetery in southern Jordan, archaeologists have developed a unique way of peering into the murky world of antiquities looting: With aerial photographs taken by a homemade drone, researchers are mapping exactly where - and roughly when - these ancient tombs were robbed.Chad Hill, an archaeologist at the University of Connecticut, operates a drone to survey looting at a 5,000-year-old cemetery known as Fifa in southern Jordan. Hill, an archaeologist at the University of Connecticut who built the drone, piloted it over a part of the graveyard that hadn't been mapped yet. The drone, built by Hill takes photographs that show in great detail how looting has altered the landscape [Credit: AP/Sam McNeil]
Based on such images and conversations with some looters whose confidence they gained, archaeologists try to follow the trail of stolen pots and other artifacts to traders and buyers. They hope to get a better understanding of the black market and perhaps stop future plunder.
It's sophisticated detective work that stretches from the site, not far from the famed Dead Sea in Jordan, to collectors and buyers the world over.
The aerial photography detects spots where new looting has taken place at the 5,000-year-old Fifa graveyard, which can then sometimes be linked to Bronze Age pots turning up in shops of dealers, said Morag Kersel, an archaeologist at DePaul University in Chicago. Kersel, who heads the "Follow The Pots" project, also shares the data with Jordan's Department of Antiquities, to combat looting.
On a recent morning, team members walked across ravaged graves, their boots crunching ancient bones, as a tiny, six-bladed flying robot buzzed overhead. In recent years, drone use in archaeology has become increasingly common, replacing blimps, kites and balloons in surveying hard-to-access dig sites, experts said.
Chad Hill, an archaeologist at the University of Connecticut who built the drone, piloted it over a part of the graveyard that had not been mapped yet. The drone snapped photographs that allowed Hill to see in great detail how looting altered the landscape.
"We can see the change through time, not just of `a huge pit has been dug' but where different stones have moved," Hill said. "It's a level of resolution of spatial data collection that's never really been possible until the last couple of years."
Archaeologist Morag Kersel holds a pottery shard found at a Bronze Age cemetery, known as Fifa, in southern Jordan. Kersel heads a program called "Follow The Pots" that, based on aerial photography and conversations with looters, tries to track stolen artifacts to middlemen, dealers and customers [Credit: AP/Sam McNeil]
As the drone's batteries ran low, Hill overrode the automatic pilot and guided the landing with a remote control. Flipping the drone on its back, he checked the camera, nodding approvingly at the afternoon's work.
The cemetery in Jordan's Dead Sea plain contains about 10,000 graves, part of the vast archaeological heritage of the region.
It looks like a moonscape as a result of looting, with about 3,700 craters stretching to the horizon and strewn with shards of skeletons and broken ceramics. Looters typically leave human remains and take only well preserved artifacts.
"I spend my days stepping on dead people," said Kersel, picking up a broken shell bracelet, presumably from ancient Egypt.
An underlying cause for looting is high unemployment, said Muhammed al-Zahran, director of the nearby Dead Sea Museum. "Looting happens all across the region," he said.
In Jordan, unemployment is 12 percent, and it's twice as high among the young.
Yet stolen antiquities rarely enrich local looters, said Neil Brodie, a researcher at the University of Glasgow's Scottish Centre for Crime and Justice Research.
A six-bladed drone casts a shadow on a heavily looted 5,000-year-old cemetery, known as Fifa, in southern Jordan. At the sprawling Bronze Age site, archaeologists have developed a unique way of peering into the murky world of antiquities looting: With aerial photographs taken by the drone, researchers are mapping exactly where and roughly when new tombs were robbed [Credit: AP/Sam McNeil]
Rather, the profits end up in Europe or America, Brodie said, describing high markups as the artifacts move from looter to middleman, dealer and then customer.
Brodie studied looting at another site in Jordan, the ruins of the early Bronze Age community of Bab adh-Dhra, though without the help of drones.
He estimated that diggers were paid about $10,500 for 28,084 pots that were subsequently sold in London for over $5 million, sometimes marketed as "Old Testament" artifacts.
An artifact that later sold for $275,000 was initially traded for a pig, Brodie's research showed. And he also found that a dancing Hindu deity bought for about $18 sold eventually for $372,000.
Some of the artifacts stolen from Jordan's sites, including tombstones, end up in neighboring Israel, said Eitan Klein, a deputy at the Israeli Antiquities Authority's robbery unit.
Kersel, from the "Follow the Pots" project, said looters told her they sell their goods to middlemen from the Jordanian capital of Amman or the southern town of Karak. She said the trail stops with the shadowy middlemen, but that she can sometimes pick it up on the other end, by comparing the looting timeline with what eventually ends up on the market all across the world.
In addition to monitoring the cemetery, Kersel also teaches local workshops on profiting from antiquities legally, including by making and selling replicas, to discourage robbing graves.
Yet, looting will be difficult to stop as long as demand remains high, she said.
"People don't ask the sticky questions about where artifacts come from," said Kersel, standing inside a robbed grave in Fifa. "They just want to own the piece regardless of what kind of background the artifact has, and that is what causes people on the ground to loot."
Author: Sam McNeil | Source: The Associated Press [April 03, 2015]
It's Thanksgiving Break! It's Thanksgiving Break! Can I say how thankful I am for Thanksgiving Break? Yesterday I celebrated by doing zero homework, which means I have to write a paper today but I'm accepting of that. Instead of doing homework I finished Wide Sargasso Sea first thing in the morning, then I wrote a blog post about the essay film Chekhov for Children. I spent the rest of the afternoon watching Buffy the Vampire Slayer on Netflix and then in the afternoon I got my next disc of True Blood from Netflix. I made chocolate chip cookies! Then I got a strong desire to go to Daydreams Comics downtown, so we fought the football game traffic to get there only to find out they were sold out of the comic I wanted, but I got the second Fables anyway. We tried to go to Harry Potter but it was sold out. We came home and drew while we watched A Beautiful Mind and Chicago. Yesterday was busy and awesome.
I went to a Thanksgiving Party with my friends on Thursday night and we went around the room saying what we were thankful for. Most people said they were thankful for their friends and all our yummy food (I made cranberry sauce and cranberry salsa) and so on. When it was my turn I said I was thankful for books and everyone laughed, saying they knew I would say that. But it's true, I'm really thankful for books.
Without books and reading some of the hardest times of my life would have been a lot harder--- this semester included. When I read I get to pretend I'm someone else, somewhere else, for awhile. I've also made some of my best friends in college through books. When I started blogging I became a pretty public reader and then people around me I'd kind of known for awhile became more interested in me because they wanted to talk books. I love to talk books! I will talk books with anyone! I love texting a friend (I'm talking about you Liz) right after I finish a book and saying I must talk to you because I know you read this book too. And I love getting texts from friends to hear they're starting a book I've already read.
Are you thankful for books? If yes, why are you?
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by Philip Graham is a travel book about a year he spent with his wife and daughter in Lisbon. On the surface, that is. When I began reading this book I was excited to read about Portugal, a place that has always mystified me. What I got instead was an amazing account on fatherhood, growing up, and finding yourself.
The book is a series of dispatches for McSweeney's and begins like a trip begins, how they go there. It moves to unpacking their items in their new apartment and on to exploring the nooks and crannies of Lisbon. Graham writes beautifully about the culture, inserting the Portuguese language at the most key of moments and speaking honestly about the good and the bad of Lisbon. He is definitely a narrator you can trust.
As the book moved on, for me, it became less about Lisbon and more about Graham's twelve-year-old daughter Hannah. She struggles at her first school where she knows none of the language and is bullied by other kids. After switching to a new school she finally starts to find her place and fit in, but only after a crash course in Portuguese and changing her eating habits. As a girl on the brink of adolescence she faces challenges that her parents do not face, and perhaps do not entirely see. Graham takes the blame too, he admits that taking his daughter to Lisbon might have been a bad idea. At the end Hannah does love Libson, and wants to return immediately, so there is a sense not all was lost.
Overall this was a fascinating book, one of my favorites I've read this year. It's a quick read and I truly think there is something in here for all of us.
Paperback: 168 pages Publisher: University of Chicago Press; 1 edition (November 15, 2009) Language: English
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Nineteen year-old Harmony Blue Kucharski is single, alone, and pregnant. She opts to put her son up for adoption. She had a difficult childhood and only wants the best for her son.
Twenty years later: Blue Reynolds is a very successful Chicago-based talk show hostess. She has everything that money can buy, everything but happiness. During the taping of a teen pregnancy show, Blue loses herself and begins to defend a young pregnant teen that is a guest of the show. Blue realizes what she's missing in her life: knowing what happened to her son. She hires a private investigator to find the location and name of her son's adoptive parents. He finds the location of the daughter of her midwife, and begins sending her money in return for her medical file.
While taping an episode of The Blue Reynold's Show in Key West, Blue is reunited with Mitch Forrestor, her former English Professor. They had a relationship twenty years ago, and the dissolution of this relationship is what caused blue (then Harmony Blue) to rebound and find herself pregnant. Is this reunion Fate's way of telling her to fight to regain everything she lost those decades ago?
When Blue decides to help Mitch produce his literary documentary, Literary Lions, Blue meets his thirty-something son, Julian. Julian puts a bit of a kink in Mitch and Blue's potential relationship.
When her past is revealed, Blue must quickly decide just how much she is willing to relinquish in order to find true happiness. Reunion
tells a a story that pulled me in during the first few pages. Blue's character is a strong and honest one. One can't help but feel for her and everything she was forced to experience in life. The secondary characters are extremely well-developed as well and serve as a backbone to the storyline. All of the characters are human, they have natural faults real challenges they are forced to address. The tale that Reunion
portrays is a powerful one. Fowler's writing paints the setting of Key West as if it were a painting that is being unveiled before our eyes. The imagery and detail pulls the reader into the story. I felt the sun beating on my face, smelled the warm ocean breeze. The ending leaves me begging for a sequel so I can follow the characters on their journey of rediscovery
Reunion
is the perfect book to take along with you to the beach, or in my case, to read on a rainy day.
About the Author
Therese Fowler is the author of Souvenir. She holds an MFA in creative writing. She grew up in Illinois and now lives in Raleigh, North Carolina, with her husband and two sons. You can visit Therese Fowler’s website at http://www.theresefowler.com/.
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I was a little late to the party with The Time Traveler's Wife
but fell in love with it. I heard Audrey Niffenegger read a section of Her Fearful Symmetry
during the Iowa City Book Festival last year and thought it sounded fantastic. I love ghost stories and I trusted Niffenegger's ability to create a complicated and original story. Right after the reading though I heard from several others who were disappointed in the book and decided to put it off. And put it off. And put it off some more. In the end I got the audio version of the book because I was afraid reading the book would be too painful.
The story was great. It's about two twins, Valentina and Julia, who move to London from Chicago after their mother's twin dies of cancer. Their mother, Edwina, and her sister, Elspeth, had a falling out sometime that no one really knows anything about. Due to the falling out Elspeth writes in her will that Valentina and Julia must live in the London apartment for one year but their parents cannot come into the apartment. While Valentina and Julia live in London they make friends with Elspeth's lover Robert and another neighbor Martin, who is obsessive compulsive. The characters were extremely well written, unique, and interesting. I particularly loved Robert because he reminded me of Henry from The Time Traveler's Wife.
Valentina and Julia are glued at the hip but throughout the story you learn more about Valentina's desire to separate from her sister and Julia's obsession with taking care of Valentina. You also learn that Edwina and Elspeth had a similar relationship which played a role in their falling out.
Valentina and Julia are not the only people living in the apartment, however; Elspeth's ghost is present and trying to communicate with them.
So I have a story that I think well sums up my feelings about Her Fearful Symmetry. As I said earlier I listened to the audio version of this, which was divided into two parts. I didn't know this when I started it though and when I reached the end of the first half I thought the story was over. I didn't understand why everyone thought the book was so horrible. I thought it was just the right length, and had a great ending. Then I discovered there was a second half to the book. Once I started to listen I understood what all of the groans were about.
The first 80 percent of the book was all good and fine, but I felt the ending dragged and ruined my enjoyment of the characters. Overall I enjoyed the audio, but the reader used different voices for different characters and I found her incredibly difficult to listen to when she was reading Valentina's character. She made her voice very high and mousy, which was fitting for the character but horrible for my ears.
I think the book is worth reading if you consider yourself a big fan of Audrey Niffenegger. Of course, if you consider yourself that you've probably already read it. I'm not sure I would have finished the book if I hadn't listened to it on audio, and I think if you skip this one you won't miss out on much.
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Movies Tittle:COLOMBIANA(2011) Starring:Zoe Saldana, Lennie James, Michael Vartan, Marshall Warren, Callum Blue, Jordi Mollà, Max Martini, Sam Douglas, Monica Acosta
Directed by: Olivier Megaton
Release Date: September 2, 2011
A young woman grows up to be a stone-cold assassin after witnessing her parents’ murder as a child in Bogota. She works for her uncle as a hitman by day, but her personal time is spent engaging in vigilante murders that she hopes will lead her to her ultimate target – the mobster responsible for her parents’ death.
Production Status: In Production/Awaiting Release Genres: Action/Adventure, Art/Foreign, Drama and Thriller Release Date: September 2nd, 2011 (wide) Distributors: Sony Pictures Releasing Production Co.: EuropaCorp
Filming Locations: New Orleans, Louisiana, USA
New Mexico, USA
Paris, France
Chicago, Illinois, USA
Mexico
Produced in: France
Here isColombiana (2011) Video Trailer. Check it out!
![[VIDEO Trailer] Colombiana (2011)](https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi7E7pZdv2ageHKvPra66DK4keU-mRO4Rhq9qXsI6hj4RB2JxMxfeLmpCueIZF_wOMGTmWInSamHu9L07cqx2bBeUIA-XIFSUwI-awViNnPokCp9uN8Yg4D2vrYRkE8Fmxi8Uf4oolneoR8/s1100/colombiana_3.jpg)
