Rollercoaster of Love...

...or untimely death.  Or love with a meth addict.

That said, this is an ostensibly functional amusement ride for children at the Kathmandu Zoo, Nepal.

Full disclosure: I totally desaturated all the colors but red to maximize the horrorshow-vibe.  I couldn't help myself.

The Golden Hour

A proprietor keeping an eye on his wares, the Durbar night market, Kathmandu, Nepal.

(Non-)Pomp & Circumstance

Mucking about before the graduation the of the brother (like the running of the bulls, but with more mortar boards and a slightly lower casualty rate).

Down to the River (via elevator)

Trolley cars on the elevator to load a pile of tourists (us!) into Yangtze river cruise boats in Chongqing.  Visibility is maybe half a mile- enough to take in one of the many new construction projects expanding this already gargantuan city, going up on the other side.

Take Off

Cliff swallows & their nests, under the eaves of an abandoned house in the California ghost town of Bodie.

Ruins on the Mountain

Looking down the Khumbu valley towards the inexorable, inevitable evening clouds rising over Ama Dablam.  These ruins are on the east side of the river, across from the "village" of Duhgla.  We...should not have been on that side of the river as the sun set!

'Sworthy

The Andy Goldsworthy wall, Storm King Art Center, a fall day.

Monolith

Cue the monkeys.

Sacrifice

Looking from the winding stairs to the facade of the Sagrada Familia, Barcelona.

Little Buddha

A carving from Baodingshan, in China.  I unfortunately can't remember which wall I found this little guy on, and there's not enough to reference in the background for a cross-check on the interwebs.  But judging by his blissfully devotional countenance, I think he is not, for example, from the section of the relief which depicts the "Hells of Excrement and Impaling."

Ich Bin Ein

The Berlin Cathedral, juxtaposed with an Epcot-ish, 60s vision of future-modern architecture, the Fernsehturm, a television tower which is the tallest structure in Germany.  In the sunlight, a cross forms on the sphere- thus it is known colloquially as "the Pope's Revenge" (blahblah, secular democratic Germany, blahblah can't supress the power of jesus, shining forth from your devil tower, blahblah).

Angular Light

Shadowplay in the I.M. Pei-designed (as though you couldn't tell) exhibition hall, of the Deutsches Historiches Museum in Berlin.  I am a firm believer in letting light do the heavy lifting when it comes to architecture- it lends a dynamic, organic quality; a sense of slow, dignified movement within what would otherwise seem (to us mortals) an almost eternal monolith.  And Pei was a master.

Apparently he would only agree to design a small building integrated into the existing museum, as he did not want to distract from the surrounding architecture.

Heavenly

Temple of Heaven, Beijing, another dubious site for a four-man game of frisbee.

Gateway to the Floating World

Rani Pokhari, Kathmandu, Nepal.  Ennui.

Airports upon a hill, part one

The tarmac at the Lukla airport, elevation 9,400'.  It can only be accessed in fine weather as there is no radar (in the planes or the airports).  It is bounded on both sides by cliffs- one to crash into, one to fall off of, and there is literally no buffer for either.  It was built at a 12% slope, not due to the (immense) difficulties of engineering an airstrip on the side of a mountain previously accessible only by a 6-day walk from the nearest paved road, but intentionally- planes need the downhill to achieve take-off speed, and the uphill to slow down fast enough to stop before the cliff wall.

Apparently a show on the History Channel titled Most Extreme Airports (historical!) rated Lukla the most dangerous in the world.  But I have to say, given the challenges of the environment and the volume of (impatient, lazy) tourists that come through there, I think the safety record is actually pretty impressive.

Although I am amused by the fact that the runway was initially graded by a few days of villagers running back and forth, packing down the earth with their bare feet.

In the spotlight

A room of statuary, deserted but for the guard.  Not sure what museum this is in- the Met?  The PMA?

Balls.

Apparently I'm still feeling abstract.  Defunct fountain + public art, Girona, Spain.

Metallurgy

More beauty amid decay: texture and color swathing an abandoned house in Bodie, CA.

Dichotomous

Juxtaposition in Shanghai; out with the old.

Dam.

In the lochs of the Three Gorges Dam on the Yangtze River, China.  I seem to recall spending the night in this boat stairway.  Water goes up, water goes down.  Very. slowly.