ABC Wednesday,C for Culture

Please click to see more details.
Greek: 1100BC,
Viking:1000AD,
Aboriginal:50,000BC,
Egyptian:2000BC

Not so long ago a friend of mine rang me up and we started a conversation about culture. Where does the culture of people start? Does it start when a group of people is going to use written language and write books? We came to the conclusion that culture starts with the prehistoric storytellers, who laid the foundations for religion, philosophy and all kind of art forms, related first to legends, religions and daily life. The Celts and the Vikings had hardly any written literature, but that doesn't mean that they had no culture. They had a highly developed way of expressing themselves in paintings, woodcarving, jewelry, music, dance...The Australian Aborigines had no written proof of their culture either, but they had their storytellers. They created images in words, and in cave drawings each with a very important message. Their rituals are incomprehensible to Europeans, unless one of their elders explains them to us. The sound of clapsticks, bullroarer and digeridoo is unknown to many Europeans and Americans.
I believe that culture also depends on the living conditions of people. People who live in deserts live in tents, they are often nomads. Their food consists of what they find in the desert.
In the arctic regions, where there are no woods, people build their houses of ice. They eat fish and seals. Their clothes are made of skins or testines of fish.

Culture is a combination of living conditions, depending on environment, intelligence,ingenuity and creativity. Survival is the main goal. Food, housing and clothing are the first necessities. Communication is becoming more and more important to fill all those needs. Sounds and gestures are not enough, therefore language comes into being and customs arise. Then when a community is getting well organized, creativity can be used to create art. Language is now also used to amuse and teach people. Music and language together are even better means to tell stories and help to remember facts and legends. Language is now written down; first in stone or clay tablets, later paper is used. Housing is now not only used for accomodation, but people like to build beautiful dwellings, and so architecture becomes a new art form. Clothes are going to be designed not only to keep one's body covered and warm, but to become more attractive and colourful.

With thanks to Denise Nesbitt, who created ABC.We started a new round of the fascinating meme of ABC. For more interesting ABC posts click on the logo in the sidebar or Here. This week we are looking for words beginning with C.

Bench of the Week, Norway.

 
 

Photo 1 : Lillehammer, Maihaugen the open air museum .

Photo 2 : Hemsedal, Bygdatun folksmuseum.


Maihaugen (Norwegian: De Sandvigske Samlinger på Maihaugen, Lillehammer) is one of the most visited tourist attractions in Lillehammer, Norway. Maihaugen is Europe's largest open air museum and is one of the largest museums in Norway, with close to 200 buildings.

Maihaugen tells the history of how people have been living in the valley of Gudbrandsdalen from the Middle Ages until today.

I had a coffee here sitting on this very bench with a cousin of my husband. She is a widow like me. She has lived in Norway for more than 40 years now.

 

Another museum, but much smaller than Maihaugen.

On a sunny afternoon I walked with one of the members of our group to this little museum in Hemsedal,called Bygdatun folksmuseum.Our guide showed us the main house and the various outhouses.

RuneE of Visual Norway
began this informal meme on "Bench of the Week". Please visit his site for other participants. PERBS has a whole site dedicated to benches called "For the Love of Benches", which is going on for two years and every day she posts a new bench.Her friend Malyss. has shown more than 600 benches on a site called "benchesonmyway"..

ABC Wednesday, B for Bergen in Norway

Between 1066 and 1093 Olav Kyrre, king of Norway is said to have founded Bergen, the largest city in the country for the next 600 years. It became a vital link in the Hanseatic League( a chain of European and Baltic cities with shared trading agreements, one of them was the Dutch town of Deventer).

Its harbour front Bryggen was a scene of thriving trading activities. It is also the oldest part of Bergen.It is now on UNESCO's World Heritage List.
The famous composer Edvard Grieg (1843-1907) was born here and lateron lived in his beautiful house "Troldhaugen"(the Hill of the Trolls). Edvard and his wife Nina are buried in a cliffhewn tomb in the grounds.
The old stave church at Fantoft, originally built in Fortun in 1150 and moved to Fantoftin in 1883, burnt down in 1992.Fantoft stave church has been rebuilt just as it was before.
 

The open air museum Old Bergen shows us 40 characteristic wooden houses from a couple of centuries ago.


With thanks to Denise Nesbitt, who created ABC.We started a new round of the fascinating meme of ABC. For more interesting ABC posts click on the logo in the sidebar or Here. This week we are looking for words beginning with B.

that's My World, Stavoren Trainaccident.

 
 
 

Yesterday the inhabitants of Stavoren, in the north of the Netherlands, missed being killed by a train that had been derailed. Fortunately there were no casualties, but the damage of this weird accident is great . I just read that the train was empty except for four Italian men who were supposed to service the train. The train was driven at a very high speed. The Italians probably didn't know how to handle this train.

That's my World is hosted by Klaus,Sandy,Ivar,Wren,Fishing Guy & Louise - a Team of experienced bloggers, whom we thank for this wonderful meme. You can see more of the world of other bloggers by clicking on the logo in the side bar or on that's My World

ABC Wednesday, A for Amazing, Astonishing, Absurd.

A for Amazing, Astonishing, Absurd...

It was a nice and sunny day and everybody in the lawyer’s office was in a good mood. They were cheerfully talking and sipping their coffee, when the door opened and a man entered the office, limping. One of his legs was in a cast, one of his arms was in a sling. He looked a wreck. One of the lawyers got up, put his coffee cup down and said: “ Mr.Brown, I presume!”. The man nodded and spoke with a hoarse voice; “Are you mr. Deed , the lawyer who will give me legal aid and defend my case ?”
“Yes that’s me. Could you tell me what happened?”
“I was attacked , while I was working in an old house, and suddenly this little old lady entered the room and pointed a gun at me. I was so frightened that I ran to the balcony and jumped off it. I broke my leg and an arm”.
Mr. Deed: “What were you doing in the house, are you an electrician or a plumber ?”
Mr. Brown:”No.”
Mr.Deed:”Are you insured?”
Mr. Brown: “No, that’s not possible with the kind of work I do…”
Mr.Deed( looking puzzled):”What time was it ?”
Mr.Brown:”It was two o’clock!”
Mr. Deed:”Ah two o’clock in the afternoon and then…”
Mr.Brown:”No no no…It was two o’clock at night!”
With a look of unbelieve the lawyer answered :”OH… but then you were committing .....burglary??"
MrBrown:” Uh… well yea that’s my job. The fact is that because of that little old lady I haven’t been able to work for many weeks and apart from that I had to pay the doctor and therefore I want her to pay for all my expenses. Besides it’s illegal to possess a gun…. Will you assist me when I take the matter to court?”
Mr.Deed:”Well…okay “
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------At court
Mr. Deed claimed that Mr. Brown lost a lot of money by the action of the little old lady, who was in illegal possession of a gun. The old lady said that she thought she was entitled to defend her house against intruders. True, but not with a gun even if it proved to be unloaded. She should have used…uh… her fists(???) Anyway she lost the lawsuit and was fined… one Euro.(the last part of the story was made up... sorry)


With thanks to Denise Nesbitt, who created ABC.We begin a new round of the fascinating meme of ABC. For more interesting ABC posts click on the logo in the sidebar or Here. This week we are looking for words beginning with A.

Weekend Reflections, The Netherlands, Rotterdam

 

Please click to see more details!


Rotterdam was not so long ago one of the most important harbours in the world. These photos were, however, not taken in the harbours, but in the city centre. There are always many inland vessels and rivercraft.


Please click on the photos if you want to see more details.

This meme was started on 27 September 2009, by James. You can join this meme at some time during the weekend. Just post your photo and go to James to tell him that you are on, or click on the logo in the sidebar.This meme is created for any type of reflection.

Sky Watch, Night sky over Rotterdam

 

A night sky over Rotterdam. Seventy years after that terrible night in May 1940 when Rotterdam was heavily bombed by the Nazis, and the day was night and the night was full of fire.

Sky Watch is hosted by Klaus, Sandy, Ivar, Wren, Fishing Guy & Louise
Thank you so much for this great meme, it's always a pleasure to participate, and see all the other skies around the world. If you want to see some real skies please click on the logo in the side bar.

That's my World, ABC Wednesday Z for Zadkine

This statue is called "Destroyed City", We call it "City Without a Heart"or "A Cry to Heaven". It symbolizes the city of Rotterdam after the bombardment in 1940 by the Germans.The whole city was in ruins.The sculptor is Ossip Zadkine (July 14, 1890 – November 25, 1967) a Russian-born artist who lived in France. He is primarily known as a sculptor, but also produced paintings and lithographs.

Zadkine was born as Yossel Aronovich Tsadkin in Vitebsk, Belarus, then part of the Russian Empire. His father was Jewish; his mother was of Scottish ancestry.

After attending art school in London, Zadkine settled in Paris about 1910. There he became part of the new Cubist movement (1914-1925). He later developed his own style, one that was strongly influenced by African art.

Zadkine served as a stretcher-bearer in the French Army during World War I, and was wounded in action. He spent the World War II years in America. His best-known work is probably the sculpture "The Destroyed City" (1953), a memorial to the destruction of the center of the Dutch city Rotterdam by the German Luftwaffe in 1940.


Zadkine taught at his own school of sculpture. He died in Paris in 1967 at the age of 77 and was interred in the Cimetière du Montparnasse. His former home and studio is now the Musée Zadkine.

The Nazis destroyed Rotterdam on 14 May 1940, without any warning. When we returned from Indonesia( then Dutch East Indies) in January 1946, the town was one enormous ruin and my mum, who was born and bred in Rotterdam didn't recognize anything of it.

That's my World is hosted by Klaus,Sandy,Ivar,Wren,Fishing Guy & Louise - a Team of experienced bloggers, whom we thank for this wonderful meme. You can see more of the world of other bloggers by clicking on the logo in the side bar or on that's My World



With thanks to Denise Nesbitt, who created ABC.For more interesting ABC posts click on the logo in the sidebar or Here. This week we are looking for words beginning with Z.

Bench of the Week, Australia Queensland,

 

 

Please click on the photos to enlarge!

This bench is in the Botanical Garden of Cooktown, The head of the huge snake is somewhat frightening, but it's beautifully made of wood.

RuneE of Visual Norway
began this informal meme on "Bench of the Week". Please visit his site for other participants. PERBS has a whole site dedicated to benches called "For the Love of Benches", which is going on for two years and every day she posts a new bench.Her friend Malyss. has shown more than 600 benches on a site called "benchesonmyway"..

ABC Wednesday Y for Yirdaki

The didgeridoo was born in the Northern Territory of Australia.
For the lover of Aboriginal arts and culture it is quite fortunate that the indigenous people of Northeast Arnhem Land meticulously maintained a long unbroken tradition to the fascinating art of making the 'didgeridoo,' an instrument which the YOLNGU artists of Northeast Arnhem Land refer to as the 'YIRDAKI'..
The two little boys are already playing the didgeridoo almost as it should be played with circular breathing. In a few years they can imitate all bush sounds like the barking of dingoes, the growling of the goanna, and the laughing of the kookaburra.

With thanks to Denise Nesbitt, who created ABC.For more interesting ABC posts click on the logo in the sidebar or Here. This week we are looking for words beginning with Y.