Up in the Mountains

Here are more pictures from 1979 Ecuador, this time up in the mountains. Again they were compressed for the web.

I think the first one was taken outside the city of Cuenca but really don't remember. Hey! It's been 31 years.

Hopefully there weren't a lot of tunnels on this line.

In Quito. Be prepared.

A Quito suburb.

The monument on the Equator in Quito.

Out of the Past

Back in 1979 the Bureau Chief hauled a 2 1/2 x 2 1/2 camera to Ecuador and took a lot of photos. Since it is much easier to store and view photos once they are digital, I recently sent off a small batch of slides and negatives to ScanCafe to see what kind of job they did. They did an excellent job but the tradeoff was that it took two and a half months. Finally the scans are back and will be posted periodically.

At one point the Bureau Chief and some Europeans flew in a small plane out to a tiny village in the jungle. The village was built around a postage stamp sized landing strip. The local people were members of the Shuar tribe who were sometimes incorrectly called the Jivaro. They were famous for making shrunken heads from their hereditary enemies but that epoch was over. Their traditional way of life had been disrupted by access to the modern world through the airplane. There was a professional photographer in our group, a very nice guy, and the locals had put on their best and lined up for photos shortly after we landed. I took advantage of the set up.

The media.

The people.

Old style with modern elements.

Everyday look.

This girl is not wearing a fur hat. It's her pet capuchin monkey although hard to make out.

The picture files have been compressed for the web. The originals look better.

Hawks from the archives

While I'm trying to decide if I have anything to say about the film "The White Ribbon", I'm posting these photos of Red-tailed Hawks from the Bureau archives. This no-nonsense guy in sitting in a tree in back of the Bureau.

These were shot at the top of the hill that the Bureau stands on. When they fly you can see how they got their name.

And also how the Egyptians could have a falcon god.

La Défense

The French only built one skyscraper in central Paris, the Tour Montparnasse, and immediately regretted it. All the other highrise buildings are exiled beyond the Péripherique, the beltway that separates central Paris from its suburbs. Most of the skyscrapers are clustered in La Défense, a planned business section in northwest Paris. A friend once suggested that Mme Le Chef and I visit it, but I was enthralled by old Paris and pooh-poohed the idea. Then one day we happened to be in the bus station underneath La Défense and decided to take a look. When we came up from below we saw this.

It's the Grande Arche, an office building shaped like, yep, a hugh arch.

It justifies the use of the word, "monumental".

The Grande Arche was designed and situated to echo the Arc de Triomphe, which can be seen from it, in the distance. They are laid out out in a line called the Arc historique.

This axis is continued on the opposite side of the Grande Arche, where a pedestrian path leads off to the further suburbs and beyond.

These photos are from 2007.

Spring in Richmond VA

The Bureau Chief and Mme Le Chef just got back from a great visit with the family in the former capital of the Confederacy. The first day was grey and rainy, but yielded some parking lot theology. I think the last word of the first line is "blue".

After that the wonderful WARM (hear that San Francisco!) Eastern Spring arrived.

A seeming endless coal train runs between the swollen James River and Hollywood cemetery, resting place of two US presidents and lots of Confederates.

An enigmatic "cabin" in Bryant Park.

Photoshop was not used on any of these pictures.

Chicken John Revisited

Expectations diminished again:

San Francisciana

Some manifestations of the city's eternal interest in the offbeat:

They travel:

Political aspirations:

Diminished expectations: