billlawrence's South Florida

Abide

2007-08-26T10:03:00.000-04:00

The King

2007-08-16T09:01:00.000-04:00

Invasion of the Roomba

2007-08-15T08:11:00.000-04:00

High Quality Adult Entertainment from The Miami Herald

2007-08-13T07:08:00.001-04:00

Jerusalem's Zion Gate

2007-08-07T08:10:00.000-04:00

Jerusalem's Zion Gate then.

I found a fascinating site that features prints from Jerusalem detailing the old city from the 1800s. It is interesting to compare.

Zion Gate today

Note: the effects of bullets and shrapnel on centuries old masonry.

Pieces of Rome

2007-08-06T10:08:00.000-04:00

Swiss Guard Saint Peter's Portico- I am assuming this means Poni tu stesso una domanda (don't take my picture you a-hole)

Behind him though is the Portico of Saint Peter's Bascilla: don't think I was supposed to take this picture either but it was so fascinating.

The image used as a background for this page shows a detail of Constantine's Vision by Gian Lorenzo Bernini.

Battle of Ponte Milvio

In April 311 Galerius put an end to the persecution of the Christians and declared religio lecita (legitimate religion) their faith. A few days later he died: relations among the remaining three tetrarchs were very tense: Constantine controlled the western part of the empire with the exception of most of Italy, while Licinius and Maximinus ruled over its eastern part.
Constantine thought the time had come to move against his brother-in-law Maxentius. He laid siege to Verona, which was loyal to Maxentius and, after having conquered this fortified town, he descended the Italian peninsula towards Rome. Maxentius had strengthened the walls of Rome, but nevertheless he decided not to wait for Constantine to lay siege to the city and the two armies engaged on the Via Flaminia, north of Rome. After the first unfavourable skirmishes Maxentius tried to retreat to Rome, but he had to manoeuvre in a narrow space because Via Flaminia is flanked by the Tiber on one side and by hills on the other. The retreat became a rout at Ponte Milvio and Maxentius fell into the river and drowned.

In 315 an arch was erected by the Roman Senate to celebrate Constantine: its decoration was mainly composed of reliefs taken from monuments to Trajan, Hadrian and Marcus Aurelius, but six reliefs portrayed the victorious campaign of Constantine against Maxentius. The inscription of the arch makes reference to a divine inspiration (ISTINCTU DIVINITATIS) which helped Constantine.

Bernini's Constantine is looking up at this inscription.

According to the Christian tradition, before the battle Constantine had the vision of a cross accompanied by a cloth with the words EN TOUTOI NIKA (Greek) - IN HOC SIGNO VINCES (Latin) (with this symbol you will win) and he placed a cross and Christ's monogram on his war emblems.

Thanks to the Roman Art Lover site. I am able to piece together some of my own experiences in Rome with history.

http://www.romeartlover.it/Storia11.html

Swift Ship

2007-08-04T09:20:00.000-04:00

This ship was in town for repairs.

Some of the crew joined me for a drink and then they went on the hash Monday.

I was honored when one of the chiefs handed me this coin.

http://www.vpro.nl/programma/tegenlicht/afleveringen/34338524/

2007-07-30T09:50:00.000-04:00

Controversial documentary on the Israel lobby in the US. The controversy surrounds not only the powerful Jewish lobby in the US, but also the lack of dialog amongst US citizens and their representatives regarding the amount of foreign aid supporting the state of Israel.

From the film's liner notes.

Is one allowed to question that reality, or is the pro-Israel lobby so strong, financially and politically, that the relationship with Israel is taboo and therefore unmentionable? And what happens to those who dare expose the unmentionable?

In March 2006 the American political scientists John Mearsheimer (University of Chicago) and Steve Walt (Harvard) published the controversial article 'The Israel Lobby and US foreign policy'. In it they state that it is not, or no longer, expedient for the US to support and protect present-day Israel. Together with the power shifts in Congress and the increasing doubts about the current Middle-East policy, this could become the fuse in the powder keg. Backlight talks to the people concerned in this 'new realism' debate.

Here is a link to the working paper and a link to a rebuttal by Havard Law professor, Alan Dershowitz.

The Florida Keys are changing but not that fast

2007-07-23T10:01:00.000-04:00

No Name Pub, No Name Key

The No name Pub is a good spot to start a weekend of serious debauchery in the Florida Keys. The entire interior of the pub is lined with individual dollar bills and after inquiring was told there was an estimate of $50K in singles stapled to every imaginable surface. The food is excellent and we happened to run into some friends from West Palm who were also heading down for the Hemingway days hash.

Key West Accomodations

After dropping Kerry off at the El Patio motel.

I made my way across town the West winds Guest house. A very comfortable and affordable bed and breakfast style guesthouse that features a lush garden and pool area.

Key West Watering Holes

After getting settled in, I started down to Duval street to meet some friends at Sloppy Joe's. I ran into Dribbles and Chowder on the way and they told it was going to be packed because of the Hemingway look alike contest. I stopped by anyway and they were correct. Packed to gills with replica Hemingway look alikes and their followers. I went across the street to Ricky's and there was a much more reasonable crowd (ok nobody but a pissed off waitress). Chowder, Dribbles, 3.5 and Circumspector showed up and Mr Softy along with Softpalate joined us for a few. Then it was off to Capt. Tony's saloon, where we picked up Works and her boyfriend.

Capt. Tony's saloon claim's to be the original pub where Hemingway would meet up for daily cocktails. Apparently, Hemingway kept to a strict schedule while writing in Key West, waking at dawn and walking to his pool house, where he wrote at an old wooden desk. After work he met his circle of friends every afternoon at 3:30 - at
Sloppy Joe's Bar, 428 Greene St. (Captain Tony's Saloon). Of course you may have to take just about you hear in Key West with a colorful grain of salt.

According to Capt. Tony, "All you need in this life is a tremendous sex drive and a great ego. Brains don't mean a shit."

Mallory Square Sunset

Key West sunset at Mallory Square has a wide variety of entertaining street performers. They each compete for your attention and the escape artist located in the main part of Mallory square seemed to be pretty good. I saw a similar escape from a straight jacket last year in Edinburgh, Scotland as the street performer was being chained, manicalled and straight jacketed, I couldn't help but draw some similarities to that poor Scottish bastard who had to dislocate both shoulders to pull the stunt off.

Of course, anyone who could pass his entire body through a wire coat hanger for a few shillings may have some issues and way too much time on his hands.

Sorry I don't have the photos from Key West Friday night, but the acts are very similar to Edinburgh's fringe festival except for the guy who has trained domestic cats to perform on command. Apparently, the act was so popular that now he has a contract with one of the square's hotel's and performs only on their dock exclusively. I am still amazed by this act but can definitely tell the trainer has been affected to a certain degree by either the fame or increase in medication.

The Martyrdom of Saint Lawrence

2007-07-15T14:59:00.001-04:00

I was fascinated by the story of Bernini, the roman sculptor. One of his first works told the story of the Martyrdom of St. Lawrence. Apparently, Lawrence was an early devotee of Christ and became one of the officials entrusted with the history, treasure and trappings of the early religion.

300 years after the death of Christ the religion and Lawrence found themselves in Rome. Both were at odds with the local caliphate and this lead to a purge of Christian ideas and their leaders from the land.

Accoridng to wikipedia ;

the prefect of Rome demanded that Lawrence turn over the riches of the Church. Ambrose is the earliest source for the tale that Lawrence asked for three days to gather together the wealth.[7] Lawrence worked swiftly to distribute as much Church property to the poor as possible, so as to prevent its being seized by the prefect. On the third day, at the head of a small delegation, he presented himself to the prefect, and when ordered to give up the treasures of the Church, he presented the poor, the crippled, the blind and the suffering, and said that these were the true treasures of the Church. One account records him declaring to the prefect, "The Church is truly rich, far richer than your emperor." This act of defiance led directly to his martyrdom.

Henry Wace stated, "Few martyrdoms of the first three centuries are better attested than this one."[citation needed] It is said that Lawrence was burned or "grilled" to death. Legend says that he was so strong-willed that instead of giving in to the Romans and releasing information about the Church, at the point of death he exclaimed "I am done on this side! Turn me over and eat."

more carnage and defiance

eat me prefect

According to lore, among the treasure of the Roman church entrusted to Lawrence for safe-keeping was the Holy Chalice, the cup from which Jesus and the Apostles drank at the Last Supper. Lawrence was able to spirit this away to Huesca with a letter and a supposed inventory, where it lay hidden and unregarded for centuries. When Augustine connects Lawrence with a chalice, it is the chalice of the Mass:

"For in that Church, you see, as you have regularly been told, he performed the office of deacon; it was there that he administered the sacred chalice of Christ's blood"."[6]

According to Christian mythology, the Holy Grail is a relic that was sent by St. Lawrence to his parents in Spain. He entrusted this sacred chalice to a friend who he knew would travel back to Spain, his home country. While the Holy Chalice's exact journey through the centuries is disputed, it is generally accepted by Catholics that the Chalice was sent by his family to a monastery for preservation and veneration. Historical records indicate that this chalice has been venerated and preserved by a number of monks and monasteries through the ages. Today the Holy Grail is venerated in a special chapel in the Catholic Cathedral of Valencia, Spain, in the region of St. Lawrence's birth and early life.

Asian Trio

2007-07-04T10:42:00.000-04:00

I created this montage after a trip to Portland Oregon. The Asian trio were playing in the Chinese gardens downtown and were as curious by my presence as I was of their's.

New logo idea

2007-06-28T16:04:00.001-04:00

new logo idea

2007-06-28T16:00:00.000-04:00

Some companies have successfully integrated social action into their marketing. Even though I lean more to the free hand of market forces, the Patagonia company is one that incorporates excellent product development and manufacturing along with the green marketing. Not only do their duds last forever, their photography and messages are excellent.

I like to experiment with some of their excellent shots. Please let me know if there is a problem.