Monday, February 29, 2016

Dialectical behavior therapy

Pristina, Kosovo: Opposition lawmakers cover their eyes as smoke fills the auditorium of the assembly after they released teargas canisters to disrupt a parliamentary session. The teargas was discharged as the lawmakers were preparing to vote on whether to elect Hashim Thaci, foreign minister and former guerrilla leader, as the next president. Photo: Visar Kryeziu/AP.

Les Amants

When Leonid Ilyich Brezhnev finished his speech on occasion of the festivities of the 30th anniversary of the Deutsche Demokratische Republik, East Germany, East German President Erich Honecker opened his arms to congratulate him with a long kiss, a normal ritual for socialist comrades. Photo © Régis Bossu.

Fraternal Kiss mural of Leonid Ilyich Brezhnev and Erich Honecker kissing while driving a Trabant.

Guess Who’s Coming to Dinner

René Magritte (Les Amants, 1928)

Reborn


In mortem

Ei fu, io sono
E sull’ermo colle
D’alloro cinto
All’ora fatale, prode, m’appresto
Il timor mi fa vile
Ma più ardito l’agognato plauso
E se di lui l’umana gente
Ebbe a dir gran lode
E sperticato elogio
Che dirà di me per cotanto canto?
Ei fu ed io sono
Ma sol nella morte il volgo il mito incarna
Io sarò!
Sia pur cocendo ne lo tormento eterno.

Isadora Duncan

CounterMove

Sydney, Australia: Dancers perform during a photo-call for CounterMove by the Sydney Dance Company. Photo: William West/AFP/Getty.

Friday, February 26, 2016

Sample ballot

A woman shows her inked finger after casting her ballot at a polling station in Tehran, Iran. Photo: Atta Kenare/AFP/Getty Images.

Democracy

 http://www.theguardian.com/football/2016/feb/26/gianni-infantino-elected-fifa-president-election
Gianni Infantino celebrates after being elected as the new Fifa president. Photo: Alexander Hassenstein – FIFA/Fifa via Getty Images.

Half-Life

Siberia, Russia: Pamir, a nine-year-old bear, plays with a log after winter hibernation at the Royev Ruchey zoo in a suburb of Krasnoyarsk. Some Siberian bears have woken up two to three weeks earlier than usual due to the warm weather, according to zoo employees. Photo: Ilya Naymushin/Reuters.

About Time

Democratic presidential candidate Bernard “Bernie” Sanders is thinking hard about the question. Photo: Charlie Enscoe.

Oh, Serafina!

The contender for the World Women’s Crown, 侯逸凡 (Hóu Yìfán), her parents, and her coach Vladimir Nikolaevich Chuchelov arrived in Lviv, Ukraine, by plane in the evening of February 24, 2016. They were welcomed at the airport by the Deputy Mayor of Lviv Andriy Oleksandrovych Moskalenko. A video footage was released on the very same day on Lviv City Council Youtube Channel.

Thursday, February 25, 2016

One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest

Order No. 227

I have some rather interesting news today – the enemy’s armies have moved to Samarkand, just to find out that Sofia Nutini, virtuoso dancer of Associazione Culturale “Il Delta della Luna”, is always seven steps behind, ready to enter the stage in her role as Caïssa, and so I launch an appeal to any chess player of good will to interrupt their work for a couple of hours to enthusiastically join the Associazione Culturale “Il Delta della Luna”’s dance classes. Photo: Rapid Foto Center.

Wednesday, February 24, 2016

Tuesday, February 23, 2016

Tulips

Tulips, 1988
Photo © Robert Mapplethorpe

The Long Way Home

http://chess-news.ru/node/21048
居文君 (Jū Wénjūn) is the winner of the Tehran Women’s Grand Prix
Photo: Alina l’Ami

Where elephants live

Stephanie Sinclair, United States
Professional; Daily Life

“The Ringling Bros and Barnum & Bailey circus is made up of people from 25 different countries, speaking everything from Russian to Arabic to Guarani. A few travel in cars and trailers, but a majority – 270 – live on the trains. Most come from multi-generation circus families, to the extent that collectively, the circus staff represents thousands of years of circus history”. Photo: Stephanie Sinclair/Sony World Photography Awards.

The Legend of 1900

La leggenda del pianista sull’oceano


“La leggenda del pianista sull’oceano” ™ © Mado Flynn

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Made_in_Italy

Handmade in Italy by Mado Flynn

Monday, February 22, 2016

Goumbala Mbacké Serigne

This afternoon we sent the first Curriculum Vitae (CV) of my friend Goumbala Mbacké Serigne to Unicoop Florence asking for a stable work. Actually he is volunteering as a civil helper at Unicoop’s major competitor Esselunga S.p.A. Last time I brought him good luck, when Italian authorities eventually granted him a residence permit, after seven or so years of waiting. And this time I hope I’ll see more of him at Unicoop, so maybe it will be up to him to offer me coffee.

From Ice-Breaker to Missile Boat

Natalia Oleksandrivna Zhukova – Natalia Andreevna Pogonina
Women’s Grand Prix Series 2015-2016; Tehran, February 22, 2016
Queen’s Gambit Declined D37

1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 e6 3. Nf3 d5 4. Nc3 Nbd7 5. Bf4 dxc4 6. e3 Nb6 7. Bxc4 Nxc4 8. Qa4+ c6 9. Qxc4 Nd5 10. 0-0 Nxf4 11. exf4 Be7 12. Rfe1 0-0 13. Ne5 Qb6 14. Re2 Rd8 15. Rd1 Qb4 16. Qd3 Bd7 17. a3 Qb3 18. Re3 Be8 19. Rh3 g6? (19. ... h6 20. Qe2 Qb6) 20. Qe2 Qb6


21. Nxg6! fxg6 (21. ... hxg6 22. Qe5+-) 22. Qxe6+ Bf7 23. Qxe7 Rxd4 24. Qh4 h5 25. Rxd4 Qxd4 26. Re3 Kg7 27. h3 Rd8 28. Re5 Rf8 29. Re7 b5 30. Ne4 Kh8 31. Qg5 Qxb2 32. f5 Qg7 33. f6 Qh7 34. Qe5 g5 35. Nxg5 Qb1+ 36. Kh2 Qg6 37. Rxf7 1 : 0.

Natalia Oleksandrivna Zhukova (R.) vs. Natalia Andreevna Pogonina (L.)
Photo: Alina l’Ami

Toad Festival

南充 (Nánchōng), China: A lantern parade to celebrate the Toad festival, a tradition where people send away a symbolic toad figure representing illness and call for good health and a good harvest. Photo: 新华通讯社 (Xīnhuá News Agency/Rex/Shutterstock.
.

पुकार (Pukar)

The Charming King

Winter is thanking

Secretary of State Hillary Clinton silhouetted by a stage light as she speaks at the University of the Western Cape in Cape Town, South Africa, August 8, 2012. Photo: Reuters/Jacquelyn Martin/Pool.

The Prince passed like a rush of wind

Germany’s very prestigious news weekly, Die Zeit, have just chalked up seventy years of publication. As part of the anniversary celebration they invited the World Chess Champion Magnus Carlsen to play a seventy-board simultaneous exhibition. A number of prominenten opponents took part, and a number of fairly strong players. The event took six hour and ended in a veritable massacre. [Read more].

Sunday, February 21, 2016

Ipàzia

“Ipàzia” ™ © Mado Flynn

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Made_in_Italy

Handmade in Italy by Mado Flynn

White Lines

Our Day Will Come

Pia Cramling – Nana Dzagnidze
Women’s Grand Prix Series 2015-2016; Tehran, February 21, 2016
Queen’s Gambit Accepted D27

1. Nf3 Nf6 2. c4 e6 3. Nc3 d5 4. d4 dxc4 5. e3 a6 6. a4 c5 7. Bxc4 Nc6 8. 0-0 cxd4 9. exd4 Be7 10. Bg5 0-0 11. Qd2 Qa5. Another try is 11. ... Nb4 12. Ne5 Bd7 13. Rad1 Bc6 14. Nxc6 bxc6 15. Bxf6 Bxf6 16. Ne4 Be7 17. b3 a5 18. Rfe1 Qb6 19. Re3 Rfd8 20. Rg3 g6 21. Rh3 Nd5 22. Qh6 Nf6 23. Nxf6+ Bxf6 24. Qxh7+ Kf8 25. Bxe6 fxe6 26. Rf3 Ra7 27. Rxf6+ Ke8 28. Rxe6+ Kf8 29. Qh8+ Kf7 30. Rf6+ Ke7 31. Qg7+ Ke8 32. Rf8 mate, M. Muzychuk – Krush, Women’s World Blitz Chess Champioship, Moscow 2010. 12. Rfd1 Rd8 13. Rac1 Bd7. Without committing big mistakes Black will inexorably slip down into a totally lost position. Here, it could be interesting 13. ... h6 and if 14. Bh4 then 14. ... Qb4!? 15. Qe2 Nd5 with a more balanced game. 14. Qe2 Be8. And here 14. ... Re8(!) looks sounder as after 15. Bxf6 Bxf6 16. Ne4 White has hardly more than a slight advantage. 15. Bxf6 Bxf6 16. d5 exd5 17. Nxd5 Rd6 18. b3 h6 19. h3 Rad8 20. Nxf6+ Rxf6 21. Rxd8 Qxd8 22. Rd1 Qc8


23. Ne5 Nxe5 24. Qxe5 Kf8 25. Re1 Qd8 26. Qe4 g6 27. Qxb7 Kg7 28. Qe7 Qxe7 29. Rxe7 Kf8 30. Ra7 Rd6 31. Rxa6 Rd1+ 32. Kh2 h5 33. Ra7 h4 34. a5 Rd2 35. f3 f5 36. Rc7 g5 37. a6 Bh5 38. Kg1 1 : 0.

Pia Cramling vs. Nana Dzagnidze
Photo: Alina l’Ami

Mary Poppins

Potocki Palace gate
Photo: lviv2016.fide.com

Saturday, February 20, 2016

La Liberté guidant le peuple (Liberty Leading the People)

© 劉勃麟 (Liú Bólín) | Hiding in the City | Paris | 10 | Liberty leading the people, 2013 | Edwynn Houk Gallery.

As a Gentleman Would Say

Artwork © adnrey

唯一比失明更糟的是,你看得见,却没有远见。
Wéiyī bǐ shīmíng gèng zāo de shì, nǐ kàn dé jiàn, què méiyǒu yuǎnjiàn.
The only thing worse than being blind is having sight but no vision.

海倫·亞當斯·凯勒 (Helen Adams Keller)

The answer, my friend, is blowin’ in the wind

Typhoons, cyclones and hurricanes form over the sea when the water temperature rises above 27°C. They’re the biggest windstorms of all – and can measure up to 900km across. This photograph shows a tree blown down by Typhoon Kalmaegi, in China, 2014. Photo: ChinaFotoPress/ChinaFotoPress via Getty Images.

Cryonics

An ice storm is silent but deadly – heavy ice-build-up cuts off roads and halts vehicles, and can bring roofs, power cables and trees crashing down. Check out these cars and trees coated in ice glaze in Geneva, Switzerland. Photo: Prisma Bildagentur AG/Alamy/Alamy.

Dancing thoughts in the echoing wind

http://www.theguardian.com/books/2016/feb/20/italian-author-umberto-eco-dies-aged-84
The celebrated Italian intellectual Umberto Eco, who shot to fame with his 1980 novel “The Name of the Rose”, has been remembered as a master of Italian culture following his death at the age of 84.
Eco died on Friday night after suffering from cancer, prompting tributes to pour in for the esteemed writer. [Read more].

The Desert in Bloom

Death Valley National Park blooming after autumn storm
Photo by Alan van Valkenburg