Showing posts with label Praha. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Praha. Show all posts

Sunday, 24 August 2008

Play it again, Sam

“You must remember this; a kiss is just a kiss...
Unforgettable standard...As time goes by…”

Indeed, it’s got to be Woody Allen’s master piece created in 1972 that took Casablanca to an all time great romantic work. That has nothing to do with this post. Just got reminded of when I was hand picking some pictures I shot in Central Europe of monuments erected for great musicians whose work are so immaculate that it impacts even today’s ipod generation! I always assumed one needs to have a taste to enjoy classical music – but there are works of some (you will see their monuments below) that just blow your mind away, period. I was so wrong. You do not have to be a classical music enthusiast to appreciate their work. I wondered what makes their music so special. As I kept going to more concertos and visited more monuments, slowly it dawned to my mind. In order to enjoy a genre of music (hip hop, RnB, Electronica, Classical, Folk etc.) one needs to have a taste or like – else you will not enjoy it. The works of the following people cannot be classified as a genre of music – they are more like music itself; in its natural, original, pure, universal form straight from the heart influenced more by nature, human moods & sensualities rather than society and pretension. I enjoyed every bit of the 5 or 6 concerts I went in Vienna, Paris and Budapest and clearly understood what is it in such forms of music that brings tear drops to the listener.

Antonín Dvořák in front of the Rudolfium in Praha (Czekh Republic)

Ludwig van Beethoven, Wien (Austria) Please note he was able to conduct and perform even after becoming completely deaf!

Johannes Brahms, Wien (Austria)

Johann Chrysostom Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, Wien (Austria) - Yeah, that's his full name!!

Johann Strauss II, Wien (Austria)

Golden Hall of the Musikvierin - Wien (Austria) - take a look at the costumes and the wig of the concerto performers!!

Sunday, 17 August 2008

Glorifying the Piss

What is in a piss? But Europeans somehow find great passion in creating works of art related to a pissing man and glorifying it to unfair proportions. Although there are too many examples of pissing man fountains in Europe (i can count at least 10 that I have seen myself), the most famous one of all is the Manekkan's Piss of Brussels, Belgium. It is so over-rated that everybody who visits Brussels is so excited to see it; when they do see it the first reaction would be "Oh, is that it?"!! Reason being, the statue is way too small and nobody is sure why is it so famous - there is even a museum with a whole collection of outfits for the usually naked Manekkan who never stops pissing.

Manekkan in his usual naked pose, pissing of course

I was very lucky to get hold of the same Manekkan in the same pissing pose, but with a costume on!

Other not so famous examples of Glorifying the piss tradition of Europe - these 2 pissing boys with an especially vivid expression of relief on the face, is on the front side of a restaurant on the way to the hrad (castle) in Praha, Czekh Republic. I'm not sure if people actually ate in that restaurant, but definitely took pictures with the pissing boys or took a piss themselves - haha!

My Random Shoots - A Series!

Victoria Train Station, Amsterdam, Netherlands

Amsterdam - Bikes are very much a part of life in Holland, special lanes, beautiful nature makes it ideal!

Charles Bridge from river Danube, Praha, Czekh Republic

Cigar Shop, Golden Utika (Street), Praha, Czekh Republic

Restaurant, Praha, Czekh Republic