A Soccer Match

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As I was returning home from one of my walks I noticed this soccer match taking place at a local high school.

Of course, I’m British and I have to call it soccer rather than what the rest of the world calls it: football. This is because in the US they have a very popular sport (the Superbowl was just yesterday), which is called football. Now I know very little about American football. I’m not knocking the sport; I just don’t understand it. I know a number of Americans who don’t seem to understand soccer either (don’t get me started on cricket. I’ve tried to explain cricket to Americans, but very soon their eyes start to glaze over – can’t say I blame them). I watched about five minutes of yesterday’s Superbowl and then left because I couldn’t figure out what was going on. One thing I do know though is that they almost never use their feet to kick the ball.

As I was walking past someone kicked the ball over the fence. I heard a voice, and it was one of the players asking me to throw it back. I dutifully picked up the ball, carried it across the street and threw it back over the fence. The boy picked it up and ran off – not a word of thanks. Ah, the youth of today. I think I’ve become a grumpy old man. Actually I know I have. There’s a line in the musical, “Ragtime”, which reads:

Grandfather had been a professor of Greek and Latin. Now retired and living with his daughter and her family, he was thoroughly irritated by everything.

Sounds a lot like me.

Taken with a Panasonic Lumix GX85 and Panasonic Lumix 20mm f1.7

An Oldie – Giambologna’s equestrian statue of Ferdinando I de’ Medici

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According to Walks in Rome (strangely because the statue isn’t in Rome. It’s in Florence):

The bronze equestrian statue (1602-07) of Ferdinando I de’ Medici (r. 1587-1609), which stands in Piazza Santissima Annunziata, was created by the Flemish sculptor Jean de Boulogne (1529-1608), better known as Giambologna, and his star pupil Pietro Tacca (1577-1640).
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The statue was cast by recycling the cannons from an Ottoman galley, which had been captured by the Cavalieri di Santo Stefano (Knights of Saint Stephen), a holy/military order set up by Cosimo I de’ Medici (r. 1537-74), Ferdinando’s father. The capture and reuse of the Turkish cannons is proudly recorded by the inscription on the strap under the horse’s belly: DEI METALLI RAPITI AL FERO TRACE (Of metal captured from the ferocious Turk).

Ferdinando, who was the third grand duke of Tuscany, wears armour emblazoned on the chest with the cross of the Cavalieri di Santo Stefano.

The marble pedestal is decorated with two bronze panels, one of which depicts concentric circles of bees, all facing the queen bee, which sits in the centre. At the top of the plaque are the words MAIESTATE TANTUM (Great Majesty). The political message, I think, is quite clear.

Wikipedia states:

The Equestrian Monument of Ferdinando I is a bronze equestrian statue by Giambologna, executed in 1602–1607, and erected in 1608 in the Piazza of the Annunziata in Florence, region of Tuscany, Italy. The monument was commissioned by Cosimo II, son of Ferdinando I de’ Medici, Grand Duke of Tuscany, from an elder Giambologna, and was meant to be modeled on the similar Equestrian statue of Cosimo I that stands in the Piazza della Signoria. This project was mainly completed by his pupil Pietro Tacca, and the statue was cast in 1602 and inaugurated at the site in 1608 during the festivities celebrating the marriage of Prince Cosimo II with Maria Maddalena d’Austria. Grandduke Ferdinand wears armour emblazoned on the chest with the Cross of Santo Stefano, an equestrian Order established by Cosimo the elder. It is said the statue was cast with cannons taken from the Turks by the Knights of Santo Stefano.

Flanking the statue some yards to the rear of the horse are two mannerist fountains with marine gargoyles, the Fontana dei mostri marini, also created by Tacca though initially intended to be placed at the statue of Ferdinand in Livorno.

There was a time when I was working in Geneva, Switzerland that I used to go down to Florence often on business. This picture was taken in 2011, after I had left Geneva and returned to New York. It was shortly before my retirement in April 2012 and was the last time that I visited Florence (doesn’t mean I won’t go again though).

Taken with a Panasonic Lumix ZS-3

Lichen

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Or at least that’s what I think they are. According to the North American Mycological Association in Lichen Basics:

Lichens are amazing organisms. They are all around us and we hardly notice them. Found on soil, tree bark, rocks and even some under water, they are actually two organisms living together (symbiosis). The major component is a fungus (mycobiont), hence they are classified as fungi — the vast majority being ascomycetes. The other component is photosynthetic (photobiont) and may be green algae or cyanobacteria (once known as blue-green algae) or sometimes both. The photobiont can make food — sugar. The fungus can kill some of the algae cells or penetrate the algae cells to obtain food. So… the symbiotic relationship is actually a controlled parasitism. The algal cells, however, are protected from damaging excess light. Lichens are fungi that have taken up farming, and they are known as lichenized fungi.

Certainly, these complex organisms can inhabit many conditions and substrates that would deter other kinds of species — hence they are known as pioneer organisms in ecological succession.

I just like the way they look: the often pastel color and the textures. Fungi to me are rather disturbing. They make me think of death and decay. Lichen on the other hand seem rather cute, as if someone has made them.

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Taken with a Sony A6000 and Venus Optics Laowa 85mm f5.6

Pleasantville, NY. Waiting for the MTA Train

by Posted in Buildings/Structures, Landscapes, Trains Leave a comment
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This was taken through a window and it’s one of those pictures that I like, but which I can’t articulate exactly why. Maybe it’s the way the train tracks curve around? Maybe it’s the looming clouds? Maybe it’s the balloons (or whatever they are) in the tree to the right? Maybe all of the above? Who knows?

Taken with a Sony A6000 and Sony FE 24mm f2.8 G.