Weekly Photo Challenge: Extra Extra

Well, here’s my extra, extra story… On this wall you are supposed to write something special behind the little wooden doors…

Of course we did, and read about strange and wonderful things behind a lot of other doors as well…

We moved on, and on our way back again there was this gang of guys with black hats and clothes, speaking Italian. We asked politely what they were doing with the wall…

…and found out that this guy was getting married. So, his friends were doing a little something…special and extra for him…

…by opening and closing the little doors to display his name all over the wall!

Cee’s Fun Foto Challenge: Things with edges

Cee asks us for things with edges – these are pieces of edginess! The petroglyphs, or rock engravings, in Vitlycke are from 1000 – 500 BC. Ships, love and magic. We visited with the class in May.

People went to sea and they portrayed their grand ships. We went to sea as well, and at sea we found even more edgy creatures. Starfish and corals.

Weekly Photo Challenge: Twist

A film tunnel that twists and turns..turning back time….A big surprise where we least expected it! Kristianstad was once a real film city and renowned as ”Little Paris” This tunnel contains old film memories of the great days back then in 1905 and the 20th C. This week Kristianstad celebrated its 400 years´ jubilée – and the King and Queen attended.

Carnival!

Lund University is one of Europe’s oldest universities. It is consistently ranked among the world’s top 100 universities and traces its roots back to 1425. Lund University has eight faculties with additional campuses in the cities of Malmö and Helsingborg, with 47,000 students.

The Lund Carnival – Lundakarnevalen…a total of 400 000 spectators in two days. I enjoyed being there again after all these years (- I believe about 35?). This time because my daughter was participating. More than 1000 students are in the parade and their inventive abilities seem to be inexhaustible…I caught only a few of them.

This celebration of the arrival of Spring started in 1849 and nowadays there are three years between them. The carnival is always built on a theme, and this year it was about our future.

Having Totti at my feet (we couldn’t find a parking in the shadow) I had to move around as best I could…and, in fact I found myself enjoying the spectators inventiveness just as much as the parade itself.

 

Weekly Photo Challenge: Work of Art

Nothing beats Nature when it comes to Art.

 Early in the day this little coot was doing her morning toilet standing in a pool of water. She was silently watching me while going about it.

Moss and lichen are small but beautiful works of art. Together, earthen brown and light green are naturally soothing and mind lifting.

My last picture for work of art belongs to a series of morning views in my blog Warden Spirits. Early morning mist over the fields.

Weekly Photo Challenge: Letters

Letters – letters and words, combined they make language.  One of the things separating us from animals – the written language. What would happen if we didn’t have it? Letters and words give you power. Not only for Love. They are the strongest weapon. Burning books is still done…, leaking written facts…, starting and ending wars. Letters.

The most beautiful letters I know of are the Tibetan letters. The skill of making them is pure art. This is not a full alphabet, but called an alphasyllabary. It is a segmental writing system in which consonant–vowel sequences are written as a unit: each unit is based on a consonant letter, and vowel notation is secondary. Read more about the alphabet here.

These pilgrim stones are placed on the path leading up to the Pothala Palace in Lhasa, Tibet. Even if I don’t know the exact meaning of what’s written on them, I think I know something of their content.

I know that somewhere on these stones is carved the primary mantra of  Tibetan Buddhism. It is commonly carved onto rocks or written on paper that’s inserted into prayer wheels. When the wheels are spinned the prayers will find their right way without someone constantly reciting them.  Oṃ Maṇi Padme Hūṃ  (Tibetan: ༀམཎིཔདྨེཧཱུྃ )

Om-mani-padme-hum 02.svg

The mantra in Tibetan with the six syllables coloured. The exact meaning of the words is discussed, but below is the interpretation by the 14th Dalai Lama:

14th Dalai Lama

”It is very good to recite the mantra Om mani padme hum, but while you are doing it, you should be thinking on its meaning, for the meaning of the six syllables is great and vast… The first, Om […] symbolizes the practitioner’s impure body, speech, and mind; it also symbolizes the pure exalted body, speech, and mind of a Buddha[…]”
”The path is indicated by the next four syllables. Mani, meaning jewel, symbolizes the factors of method: (the) altruistic intention to become enlightened, compassion, and love.[…]”
”The two syllables, padme, meaning lotus, symbolize wisdom[…]”
”Purity must be achieved by an indivisible unity of method and wisdom, symbolized by the final syllable hum, which indicates indivisibility[…]”
”Thus the six syllables, om mani padme hum, mean that in dependence on the practice of a path which is an indivisible union of method and wisdom, you can transform your impure body, speech, and mind into the pure exalted body, speech, and mind of a Buddha[…]”
Quotation  from Wikipedia

 

 

 

Weekly Travel theme: Statues

Grave yards are some of my favourite places for taking walks. At Highgate Cemetary in London I can walk for hours in the calm and peaceful athmosphere. The statues are all very beautiful here.

This sleeping woman was found under the ivy last year, and totally intact, in one piece of marble. She had been sleeping under the ivy for decades.

This dog is another faithful friend, just like Bobby, sculptured to stay with his master or mistress beyond death.

Something worth waiting for!

Ola Salo from The Ark is one of my absolute favourite Swedish artists. Some years ago I learned that he was going to do Jesus in the musical Jesus Christ Superstar. I just had to see it. Ola Salo is very talented. He’s got a good voice and his father is a priest. Now this makes it even better – the son of a priest acting the son of God! Who could do this better – potentially? Salo is also a phenomenon on stage (a glam rocker with his band The Ark) and not to speak of his good looks – he is a Jesus look alike.

Unfortunately the tickets were impossible to get – sold out in a couple of minutes only. Every show. But – last weekend I saw Jesus Christ Superstar in Karlskrona. Starring Ola Salo! The group had decided to do one more tour with the show (5-6 years after the first and only one…). I got tickets, I GOT TICKETS. Maybe I sound like a teenager now, but this was something I really had been waiting for. The musical first came to Copenhagen when I was 12 something, and then I was too young to be interested…I guess I have been waiting about forty years (40) just to see Ola Salo as Jesus!

Here’s an interview with him as well – enjoy!