Here is Radovan in a New Age community established in the 60's just outside of Pondicherry. Wikipedia will explain more, since I don't have time to add a hyperlink now! The large golden 'golf ball' is a meditation center, but you need special permission to enter, so Radovan, my friends, and I just contemplated it from afar...
This brickloader begged me to take his photo, so..... I see so many people here doing hard labor without much protection. Some just wear flip-flops while hauling bricks or moving large slabs of granite with crowbars. Watch your tootsies.
The beach in Chennai, as on other beaches I've seen here, is a place for all kinds of activities from selling candies, offering horseback rides, selling trinkets and food, and of course for performers like this little girl.
Couldn't resist this little vegetable seller, all in green like most of her veggies! India is a feast for the eyes and the palate!
This young woman is having a 'mehendi,' which is a temporary design painted on one's hands, arms, or feet either for a special ceremony or wedding. It's done with henna, so of course it's only temporary beauty, but beauty it is.
India is a photographer's paradise in more ways than one. Not only could you burn up memory cards taking photos of buildings, fruit, streets, and all kinds of attractions, but people actually love to have their photos taken, especially kids. These youngsters who were traveling in a motorized rickshaw begged me to take their photo, but were whizzed away before I could show it to them!
They certainly don't look like they'd be doing a job like helping a bricklayer, but these two ladies were doing just that. Most people I've come across in my two days here LOVE to have their photo taken, and delight in seeing it right away on my camera. The only bad part is that they often pose, whereas I'd prefer a more candid shot. But hey, I'm not complaining.
Aren't these beautiful? There are pomegranates on Belgrade markets occasionally, but I never think of buying them. Here in Chennai where I am at the moment, our friend's housekeeper made us a yummy spicy lunch on our first day here, and these sweet seeds were perfect as a dessert.
Radovan is on the road again, and 'Bibi" is well enough (she hopes...) to accompany him. Radovan has become camera shy and won't feature in all of Bibi's posts, but he'll be with her as she travels through Tamil Nadu and to one other mystery destination Radovan won't allow to be disclosed just yet....stay tuned.
Peeked out a friend's window....fortunately below these ice swords there's just a courtyard where few people walk...I hope they walk away from the building...
It's that time of year again. Today is our family's patron saint day, Saint Nikola, who watches over fishermen, sailors, and travelers. I fall into the latter category, since I am off in a short while to a destination to be revealed to you on Monday, so check back!
I don't know what these are. I remember something similar we called 'lanterns' when I was a kid, but those grew on bushes. These go from green to yellow and then to brown...only to be covered by white.
Am still pretty much housebound, so I decided to copy Chuck in Seattle a bit by photographing a painting, my favorite one from my childhood. This painting, which hung in my grandmother's dining room and now hangs in mine, was painted by my great-great grandfather, Benjamin I. Lingle, around 1860. I have quite a few more of his, but this is my favorite.
Yes, here I go again trying to find a word that fits ABC Wednesday, but this one isn't so bad. "Vespertine" means "related to the evening" and this is exactly when I took this photo, last evening. We've had about a foot of snow, and it's still falling lightly.
Slowly getting better, but this is a shot from a couple of weeks ago...now this sidewalk would be covered with snow, since it fell last night.
Staying indoors and mainly in bed prompts me to do a lot of reading. I've reread The Secret Life of Bees and am almost finished with The Guernsey Literary & Potato Peel Pie Society. Between those, I have reread cover-to-cover the Masters of Contemporary Photography series, featuring such photographers as Annie Liebovitz (see the link) and my personal favorite, Duane Michals. Stimulating stuff for my feverish brain, which along with my camera, produced the above silver garlic for you. It was that or oranges or lemons, which I squeeze daily!Tomorrow something else from my apartment, or else a photo taken before my germs moved in.
Here I am stuck inside again. This time it's some sort of viral infection, not THE flu, so the doc says, but I feel awful. Resorting to outdoor shots from within....
This polar bear is so far from the North Pole that he has begun to take on the shades of the leaves in his pool...is he dreaming of a White Christmas?
Okay, how many of you over-a-certain-agers started humming the Wrigley's Doublemint Gum ditty, 'Double your pleasure, double your fun...."? I remember an older version than the one right here, but it's still good.
Sami the Chimp, who passed away in 1992, is a Belgrade legend. Sami escaped from the zoo twice, and like many chimps, he didn't feel he was a chimp, but rather a human.
Another street artist today, perhaps one more to your liking. He's categorizing his photos, and seems to have more Belgrade scenes than nudes... I didn't stick around long enough to see which painting went first.
I've seen these artists in several cities in Europe and in the US. While what they create isn't to my liking, I've got to admire their skill.
This post is for Kim of Seattle Daily Photo, who back in April of 2008 posted a gargoyle for me that you can see right here. Well, I scoured Belgrade looking for a Balkan gargoyle, but had little luck until I stepped out on my terrace the other morning, and lo and behold, there he was....All kinds of fun for Skywatch Friday. Join by clicking here!
Last Sunday I went to the Belgrade Zoo, hoping to get a peek at the new white tiger, but he (I think it is a 'he') decided he didn't want a peek at me or anyone else, and had retreated into his den.
Like any other photoblogger, I am never without my camera, but sometimes I think I overdo it. I was in bed the other night, scrolling back through some photos still in my camera. My son came in to say good night, and decided he'd try his hand (literally) at some hand shadows.Don't just sit there! Join ABC WEDNESDAY!
Here we are nearly at the end of the year. These two chaps, whom I photographed eleven months ago are still around, waiting under a tree in front of the newspaper Politika's building, just down the street from their usual location. Like this, they remind me of Vladimir and Estragon in Beckett's Waiting for Godot.
Yesterday I showed you a photo of a camera man with a state-of-the art tripod. Today I am presenting you with a 'druid' photographer, or so I have named the chap I 'shot' yesterday in Kalemegdan park. I have no idea why he was dressed like this. If you enlarge the photo, you'll see he has a little video camera perched on top of his 'tripod,' which is really an old-fashioned plant stand. I took this photo from a distance, and the 'druid' had a lady with him, who dashed behind him when she saw me. I watched for a while....he started the camera, then walked in front of it down the path, accompanied by the lady, also cloaked in black. Then he ran back, started it again, and they moved toward the camera. The lady glanced nervously at me from time to time, though I had holstered my camera.
A week ago, an article appeared in a local newspaper, the theme being about me, a long-term expat in Belgrade. One of the consequences of that article (aside from being stopped by lots of people at my local green market and receiving many phone calls!) was a phone call from a TV station reporter who wanted to feature me today (7:30 p.m. local time, 'Pink' TV!) on the same topic.
Fiddling with a fish-eye attachment (not sure I want to splurge on a real lens) yielded this Skywatch Friday shot from a friend's balcony during the last full moon. There are no stars visible here; all washed out by the lights on the ground. It's at times like this when I recall the NATO bombing blackouts....lots of stars visible then!
No turkey for me today, since I am working and can't possibly celebrate in style, so I am doing Thanksgiving this Saturday! But I am thankful today for many things: my wonderful children, friends I've known for many years, new friends I've made through blogging and in recent years, my so-far good health, and for my husband, now gone, but who remains with me every day.
It's that time of year again....the season of 'slavas,' which are Orthodox Serbs' saints' days. I've explained last year. Some of the local Roma or gypsy population here wander through neighborhoods trying to earn some money by playing music. One definition of 'sonorous' isPost your entry for ABC WEDNESDAY!
The girl on the ball behind the car is saying, "I'm telling you, if you don't play, you won't win." That's true. I'm not a gambler, but I do keep saying, "Ah, when I win the lottery..." 
This is a dedication to my favorite artist, Vincent van Gogh, who painted The Potato Eaters. This is The Potato Seller, sitting and smoking on sacks of spuds (how's that for alliteration?) You'll see he has a sack of onions thrown in for good measure. 
I try not to think of little white wooly creatures when I devour, on a rare occasion, I must admit, roast lamb. My son took me out to dinner about a week ago at a new ethno restaurant called Pahuljica or "Snowflake." Ethno restaurants, serving home-cooked, 'like Grandma used to make' dishes, are the in thing now among Belgraders and tourists flock to them. This roast lamb was served over potatoes that had been roasted below the entire lamb, absorbing its juices. Added were a red roast pepper below, and a fresh green one on top. Sorry the photo is a little blurry....my hands wanted to hold the knife and fork, not the camera..... 
Forget those warm, fuzzy teddy bears--turtles are the ones to hug, or so it seems from this photo. I took this photo with my zoom while enjoying an afternoon of reasonably and unseasonably warm weather at an outdoor cafe. I was too lazy to get up and see what was written on the turtle's shell when he ambled off in the other direction...out of zoom range.
Not a pretty sky in comparison with what most Skywatchers show, but although I changed this photo to black and white, it didn't look too much different in the color version. It was a chilly, gray morning...
The other day I had the opportunity to chaperone two kindergarten classes from our school on a trip to the Ethnographic Museum. The 25 or so kids were much better behaved than some of the older classes I'd helped before...and so, so interested in everything in the museum and out.
It's not an obvious R here, but 'na dobrom glasu' means 'a good reputation,' and is also a play on words for this billboard advertising Fitosept, a throat lozenge. 'Dobrom glasu' can also mean 'a good voice,' which is what you will allegedly get back if you suck on Fitosept.
I photographed these opanci (OH-pahn-tsee) that I showed you once before here at the Ethnographic Museum downtown. Please click on that link, for there are some wonderful photographs of the exhibits inside. A museum not to miss should you come to Belgrade.
Vasa Čarapić (VA-sah CHAR-ah-peech) was a famous general born in 1770 on Avala mountain, which overlooks Belgrade. He died in 1806 in the struggle for the liberation of Belgrade from the Turks. His last name comes from the word čarapa, which means 'sock,' and the story goes that one of his ancestors accidentally killed a Turk's dog, and in compensation, the Turk demanded a large sum of money. The money was collected and sent to him not in a sack, but in a sock.
"All the news that's fit to print" is the motto of the New York Times. Not sure if the text on this bra and panties was taken from the NYT, and I wonder if anyone will take the time to read it.
Days are getting shorter and shorter... Recently from inside a restaurant I snapped this photo of the trails two airplanes had left on the violet sky.
...or should that be "Cars go better with Coke?" I had to pull over at a distance from this parked car last weekend to take this photo. The gas and motor oil on the roof reminded me so much of how gasoline was sold during the sanctions imposed on then Yugoslavia, and the subsequent bombing of Serbia. Gasoline was more than scarce, and was smuggled in from neighboring countries. It was possible to buy it as you see it here, by the Coke bottle, but more often such bottles were advertisements that more of the brew was available in larger quantities. Gasoline 'merchants' even provided home delivery, and people kept large canisters on their porches. This made me very uneasy, since Serbs smoke big time, and often flick cigarette butts off their balconies...I bought the Rubik's Race game several years ago for my granddaughter when she was around nine. Now she is still playing and honestly, u...
