Frozen...?

For the past three days I've been posting photos with little color; yesterday's and today's are black and white. Perhaps it's because the weather outside has been pretty colorless too, albeit beautiful in its own way. Yesterday Belgrade Daily Photo posted a photo of crows in Kalemegdan, and today I found my own crow, perhaps one that fell victim to our recent low temperatures. But did you know that a group of crows is called a "murder," though this term usually appears in poetry rather than scientific contexts? Not sure if this bird fell victim to some sort of avicide, but I took its photo because I have an artist friend who always wants such photos; beauty in death sort of thing....

Hard times ahead?

Everyone's saying that there's a world financial crisis and that the situation is only going to worsen in 2009, but for some people, like the Roma or gypsy in this photo, nothing much is going to change. He and others like him will continue to forage around the city for necessary items to use or resell.

Birdie tracks

Pigeon tracks, I think. I like the little trail that its back claw makes.

Red Nose Day on Open Heart Street

“Open Heart Street” is a January 1st tourist and art event, which was established in1988, representing one of the most important street events in Belgrade. It is organized by the Tourist Organization of Belgrade, Theater Atelier 212, and the Old Town Municipality, under the auspices of the Assembly of the City of Belgrade. Each year this event focuses on a particular cause and this year funds collected through the sale of red clown noses will go to the Doctors-Clowns project. I got there too late for the noses, but it was so cold, mine was naturally red, and probably got redder after the free mulled wine I sampled. For a photo of mulled wine sellers, see Belgrade Daily Photo's post here .

Happy New Year!

I didn't enter the Theme Day this month, simply because it's so hard to choose a "best" photo, since I couldn't actually decide what "best" means. Best sentiment, best composition, best quick shot, the photo that readers determined best and commented the most on? So I'm simply posting a not-so-original shot taken from my porch. At midnight I stepped out to make this hand-held shot, since there are firecrackers and rockets going off all over the place in my neighborhood, and I didn't want to become an accidental target. This looks a bit like a war zone, I think, since you can see the smoke from some of the city fireworks in the sky on the right.

ABC Wednesday "X" is for....

I was stumped for an X-word for my maritime photo, so I Googled "words beginning with X," and on http://phrontistery.info/x.html I found:

--xebec, a small three-masted pirate ship;
--xeme, a fork-tailed gull;
--xanthometer , an instrument for measuring color of sea or lake water. (Not river water, apparently.)

None of these are in my photo, so I'll just call it "X is for tables with legs like X-es."

Happy New Year!

Join ABC Wednesday at http://wednesdayabc.blogspot.com

Hey! Look up here! We've got glasses!

Sveti Vid is a clinic that offers world-class opthamology to people in this region. Since it's difficult for many Serbs to travel to Europe (visa requirements, financial, etc.) to obtain certain medical assistance they cannot or do not wish to have done here, Sveti Vid brings "Europe to them."The origin of the name Sveti Vid (Holy Vid) appears to come from the deity Svetovid, who is associated with war and divination and depicted as a four-headed god with two heads looking forward and two back. In Croatia, on the island of Brač, the highest peak is called Vid's Mountain, and there is a peak called "Suvid" and a Church of St. Vid. Among the Serbs, the cult of Svetovid is partially preserved through the Feast of St.Vitus, "Vidovdan," one of the most important annual events in Serbian Orthodox Christian tradition. "Vid" also means "sight." The windows in the photo are from Sveti Vid's location on Knez Mihailova, the pedestrian street, not from the clinic.

Note: Having been treated here for a long-term major illness, I can vouch for Serbian doctors' knowledge, skill, and professionalism.

Tropical Belgrade

You can have the best of both worlds, or sort of, here in Belgrade. Visit one of the city's floating bars or restaurants, many of which offer a view of the city. How about "Karibi," which, after a few shots of rakija or šljivovica (RAH-kee-yuh/SHLEE-vo-veet-sa), local brandy/plum brandy, just might make you imagine you're in the tropics. You'll feel warmer anyway.

Corporate housing

Miroslav Mišković, whom you can find more about on Wikipedia, is the second wealthiest person in Serbia. Among his other dealings in insurance, banking, government, real estate, and a chain of shopping malls, he also acquired not long ago several supermarket chains, one of which is called Maxi. And now, it appears, even our feathered friends' homes have fallen under his wing.

Not black and white

Believe it or not, this is not a black and white photo, but just trees I photographed early yesterday morning under dim light!

Got my wish...

Yesterday a wise blogger reminded me, "Be careful what you wish for," when I had said I wanted snow. But Belgrade did get some snow yesterday, just enough for a White Christmas (western Christmas anyway, since the Serbs celebrate on January 7th). It was quite pretty, but I didn't go out much, since Bibi is scared to death of firecrackers, and though there's been a crackdown on them here, they're still illegally available around town, and kids buy them. Bang.