A Mooring barber pole in Venice

A Mooring barber pole in Venice, originally uploaded by miquel_martin.

A barber pole design adorns this mooring pole in a little Venetian alley. I have no idea why that design is there (other than to look colorful) but barber poles themselves have an interesting meaning. Think back, way back: well beyond trimming hair, any self-respecting barber would also be a surgeon, and dentists! Of course by surgery we mostly mean bloodletting (i.e. make you bleed till you faint, and let's hope you feel better later). The thing is, "barbers" would hang the bandages to dry on a pole: white if they were fresh, and red if bloodstained (or just old?). The wind would blow on them and eventually roll them around, creating the well known pattern you see in the picture. Eventually the pole was made into a sign, and by the time doctors and dentists parted ways with their grooming colleagues, the barber had already laid claim to this symbol, surviving until today.


Un diseny de columna de barber adorna aquest piló per atracar vaixells en un carreró de Venécia. No em pregunteu pas que hi fa aqui (a part de maco), pero en qualsevol cas, les columnes de barber tenen tota una història. Penseu en fa temps, molt de temps: més enllá de tallar cabells, qualsevol barber respectable seria també dentista i cirurgià! Es clar que quan diem cirurgià ens referim a algú que feia sangries (es a dir, teure't sang fins que perdis el coneixement, i esperar a veure si et trobes millor). La qüestió és que els "barbers" solien penjar d'un pal les benes per assecar: blanques si estaven ben rentades, i vermelles si tenien taques de sang (o el barbe les portava usant des de feia anys?). Quan el vent bufava, les benes s'enroscaven al voltant del pal, creant el patró tant conegut que veieu a la foto. Finalment, del pal en van fer un cartell, i per quan els doctors i dentistes van deixar el ram dels escurça patilles, els barbers ja havien fet aquest símbol, que perdura fins avui

If you'd like some more info on this picture, there's a bunch of extra details in flickr.

The invasion has begun!

The invasion has begun!, originally uploaded by miquel_martin.

Ok, don't panic, let's not do an Orson Welles War of the Worlds drama here! (incidentally, not much people ever did). This is actually the S-Printing Horse before the Heidelberg Printing Machines building in, well, Heidelberg, near where I live in Germany. You might have heard of the company, but the chicken/horse remains, fortunatelly, largely unknown (yes, that's a guy's head reading a book out of the horse's backside). I liked this picture, at any rate, for it very much reminds me of H. G. Wells' tripods, or Half-Life's. How come that guy's looking so relaxed, by the way?


Va, conserveu la calma! A veure si podem evitar un drama estil Guerra dels Móns de Orson Welles! (de fet, ben poca gent la va perdre, la calma). Aquest és, de fet, l'S-Printing Horse davant l'edifici de la Heidelberg Printing Machines situada a... Heidelberg, prop d'on visc a Alemanya. Pot ser heu sentir a parlar de l'empresa, pero el cavall/gallina not te pas, afortunadament, gaire fama (sí, això de la cua es un payo llegint un llibre que surt del cul del cavall). En qualsevol cas, el motiu pel qual m'agrada aquesta foto es per que em recorda els trípodes del H. G. Wells, o els de Half-Life. Com és que aquell senyor va tan tranquil en plena invasio, per cert?

If you'd like some more info on this picture, there's a bunch of extra details in flickr.

A random skyscraper in Shinjuku, Tokyo

A random skyscraper in Shinjuku, Tokyo, originally uploaded by miquel_martin.

Tokyo has no shortage of skyscrapers. At night, the city pulsates with the red aircraft warning lights atop them as far as the eye can see. This is the Sumitomo Building, but there are plenty more where this came from. How far up can skyscrapers go?

Well, let's see. First of all, we wouldn't have any skyscrapers if it weren't for the steel skeletons and the reinforced concrete... if you don't consider Shibam, of course, where they managed quite a bit (up to 11 storeys) some 500 years ago. Just don't expect Visa moving in any time early.

Many seem to agree that money is the one factor limiting skyscraper height: the effect ot the wind would be so enromous that very strong (and expensive) materials would be needed. I personally preferred a more subtle problem: how many elevators would such a behemoth need to be practical? A bigger bank of elevators severely reduces the available space for offices and flats, and some creative solutions would needed!



A Tokyo no hi falten pas gratacels. De nit, la ciutat batega amb les llums d'avís per avions fins allà on arriba la vista. Aquest és l'edifici Sumitomo, perà n'hi ha molts mes. Fins quina alçada arribaran?

Anem a pams. En primer lloc, no tindriem pas gratacels si no fos pels esquelets d'acer i el formigo armat... si no tens en compte Shibam, on se les van arreglar forç bé (fins a 11 pisos) ara fa uns 500 anys. No espereu drets a que Visa s'hi mudi, perè!

Força gent sembla estar d'acord que l'unic factor limitant són els diners: la força del vent seria tan espectacular que caldria emprar materials molt forts (i cars). Personalment m'agraden mes els obstacles mes subtils: quants ascensors caldrien en un monstre enorme d'edifici, per poder-s'hi moure convenientment? Caldria un banc d'ascensors major, que treuria molt d'espai per oficines i apartaments, si no es que fas l'edifici mes ample, i tornem al cost dels materials!

If you'd like some more info on this picture, there's a bunch of extra details in flickr.

Owl at the Tinnunculus falconry, Heidelberg

Owl at the Tinnunculus falconry, Heidelberg, originally uploaded by miquel_martin.

There's a beautiful eagle owl! The funny thing with these guys, is their eyes are fixed on the sockets, that is, an owl will never look down on you, or roll their eyes in frustration: they lack the muscles for it!

This has a bunch of funny consequences: take an owl on a tree branch, gently swayed by the wind: if the owl's staring at something, you'll see it's whole body move with the branch while its head remains stationary (there's definitelly some cervical magic involved there). Even worse, they just can't see what's right in front of their noses (or rather, whatever it is they happen to be stabbing with that murderous beak), so the feathers around it act as sort of feelers (filoplumes for the nomenclature bufs).

Pretty amazing creatures, really: Their wings have special "hairy" terminations for stealth flight; Eggs don't hatch at the same time, so feeding and educating doesn't need to be done all at once, and in some species, ears (which are not the "horns") are not symetrically placed to improve sound localization. Are you going O RLY yet?



Eus aqui tot un duc (mussol reial)! Una curiositat d'aquestes bèsties son els seus ulls, fixes a les cavitats oculars. Un mussol mai no et mirarà sobre l'espatlla, ni farà rodar els ulls tot frustrat: simplement els hi falten els músculs per fer-ho!

Això te una colla de conseqüències força divertides: diguem que tenim un musssol a una brana, gronxant-se al vent; si es fixa en quelcom, veureu que tot el seu cos es mou, mentre que el cap roman ben quiet! (Ha d'haver-hi alguna mena de magia cervical en tot plegat). Pitjor encara, no poden veure pas el que tenen danvant els morros (o mes aviat, allo que estan destroçant a cops de bec en un moment donat), així que les plomes del voltant del bec s'usen com a sensors tàctils! (filoplumes per aquells amb inclinations científiques).

Uns bitxos d'allò mes interessants, la veritat. Les ales acaben en una mena de serreta per volar silenciosament. Els ous no es trenquen pas a l'hora, cosa que simplifica l'alimentació i educació, i en algunes espècies, les orelles (que no son pas les "banyes") estan situades assimètricament per millorar la localitzacio acustica!

If you'd like some more info on this picture, there's a bunch of extra details in flickr.

Containers by the river Rhine, near BASF in Ludwigshafen

Containers by the river Rhine, near BASF in Ludwigshafen, originally uploaded by miquel_martin.

Containers sitting at a dock. Lots, and lots of them. Ever been curious about them? Unsurprisingly, there's a bunch of ISO standards regulating everything about them, which is why they all look the same... and a good thing they do! Imagine a harbor full of assorted, oddly shaped boxes! (Indiana Jones anyone?)
Now, these things weight up to about 5000kg, and you can stuff it with 25000kg worth of goods. They have a unique "License plate". Together, they have revolutionized goods handling, but not all is peachy. Some 10.000 containers end up in the sea every year (sometimes turning up rather.. unexpectedly), and empty containers are sometimes too expensive to return home, once they are empty, and the goods transport doesn't quite compensate (5000kg, remember?) and you have huge areas full of the empty things. Oh well, they've given us endless hours of entertainment in countless movies and series, not to mention other more unorthodox uses!


Contenidors esperant a un port. Molts, molts contenidors. My t'ha picat la curiositat? Com era d'esperar, hi ha una colla d'estàndards ISO regulant-ne cada detall, d'aquí que tots tinguin la mateixa pinta... i encara sort! Imagina't uns molls plens de caixes estranyes i diferents! (recordeu l'Indiana Jones ?)
Bé doncs, aquests monstres pesen fins uns 5000kg, i hi pots entaforar uns 25000kg de mercaderies. Cada un te una "matríla única". Tot plegat ha revolucionat el transport de mercaderies, pero no tot es de color de rosa. Cada any, uns 10.000 contenidors acaben al fons del mar (i de tant en tant reapareixen, per sorpresa de tothom). A més a més, tornar cap a casa els contenidors buits (5000kg, recordes?) pot tenir un cost superior al de producció, i acabem amb àrees enormes plenes de contenidors buits.. Bé, en qualsevol cas, ens han donat incontables pel.lícules i séries, per no parlar d'altres usos menys ortodàxes!

If you'd like some more info on this picture, there's a bunch of extra details in flickr.

The Spirit of Ecstasy

The Spirit of Ecstasy, originally uploaded by miquel_martin.

The Spirit of Ecstasy, photographed at Speyer Technical Museum. This figure is Rolls Royce's mascot/hood ornament. You might think it an angel, but it's actually a (presumably ecstatic) woman holding her arms stretched to the back, clothing billowing in the wind (and looking a lot like angelic wings).
Started as a hint to a secret love, it evolving towards speed, and eventually, the sheer ecstasy of driving. Henry Royce (Yes, there is also a Mr. Rolls) thought it got in the way, and it took a while until becoming what it is today: a must have for every Rolls-Royce. Well, unless you're a Queen, perhaps!

El Spirit of Ecstasy, fotografiat al Museu Técnic de Speyer. Aquesta figura és la mascota/decoració de capó de la marca Rolls-Royce. Podria semblar un àngel, pero de fet es tracta d'una dona (aparentment en ple écstasi) amb els braços estirats cap al radera, i la roba bufant al vent (i amb tota la pinta d'ales angelicals).
La figura comença la seva historia com a guiny cap a un amor ocult, i evoluciona cap a símbol de velocitat, i finalment, de la pura alegria de conduir. En Henry Royce (Sí, també hi ha un Senyor Rolls) era de l'opinió que tot plegat reduia visibilitat, així que va passar un temps fins que la figura es va convertir en el que és avui: quelcom imprescindible per a qualsevol Rolls-Royce.... bé, a no ser, pot ser, que siguis una Reina!

If you'd like some more info on this picture, there's a bunch of extra details in flickr.

May all traffic jams be like this

May all traffic jams be like this, originally uploaded by miquel_martin.

10am on a January, by the Victoria Tower in Mannheim; A traffic jam, but a gorgeous sunrise to compensate.
It's summer now, so I was wondering how it could be so dark, so late. It turns out (instructions here), however, that we have a three hour sunrise time variation over the year, (not accounting for summer time)!. Well, we're way better off than Helsinki, or further north, with true midnight sun at Santa Claus' home in Rovaniemi. For the extremes, check Qaanaaq, somewhere in very northern Greenland (77°N) and Nairobi, Kenya, almost on the equator (1°S). Do your own checks here. Happy summer solstice!

10 del mati, Gener, a la vora de la Torre Victória a Mannheim; Un bon embús, pero també una sortida de sol genial per compensar.
Ara som a l'estiu, aixi que em preguntava com podia ser tan fosc, sent que era tan tard. Resulta (instructions aquí),que tenim unes tres hores de diferència en la sortida del sol al llarg de l'any (sense tenir en compte l'horari d'estiu)!. Bé, ho tenim força millor que a Helsinki, o més al nord, amb sol de mitjanit a casa de Santa Claus a Rovaniemi. Si voleu veure els extrems, mireu Qaanaaq, molt al nord de Groenlàndia (77°N) i Nairobi, Kenya, quasi a l'equador (1°S). Feu els vostres càlculs aquí. Feliç solistici d'estiu!

If you'd like some more info on this picture, there's a bunch of extra details in flickr.