Composition in Blue

This one is for Virginia at Birmingham Alabama Daily Photo, who I believe inadvertently started a 'table and chairs' meme (I guess that's what it is; Google says a meme is "An idea that, like a gene, can replicate and evolve.) In any case, this is another contribution from me. I liked the colors and the geometric patterns.

Faculty of Drama Arts

Belgrade's Faculty of Drama Arts is a leading high education institution in the field of theater, film, radio and television, and is a part of the University of Arts. This eminent educational, artistic and cultural institution, founded in 1948, is Financed by the government of the Republic of Serbia. This is only one section of the Faculty, I believe a newer one, and I thought I'd show you how some of the students have decorated part of the facade!

For more info on the Faculty, check out this link .

Ah-CHOO!

Common ragweed, or ambrosia, as it is known here (ambrosia artemisiifolia ) is a member of the sunflower family. Curious why such a bothersome plant would be named for the food of the gods, I found out that the generic name is actually derived from the Greek'ambrotos' (άμβροτος), "immortal". In ragweed's case, this refers to its tenaciousness, which makes it hard to rid an area of these invasive weeds. Sure enough, this tall ambrosia stalk is growing in an urban area in New Belgrade. There used to be fields of it on the other side of the street you see here, but now most of that land has been developed into office space, much to the relief of local allergy sufferers. You can probably guess I'm not allergic to it, since I managed to get this close for the photo!

THEME DAY--Shadows-- 'Roses in Shadow'

This isn’t a recent photo. I took it a year and a half ago, in very dim light, at the wedding of the daughter of a close friend. I’ve made an enlargement, which hangs on my wall, and while still attractive, it lacks a bit of the luminosity that you can appreciate on your screen. Shadows and light; this is also a foreshadowing of my own daughter’s upcoming wedding in September.

Click here to view thumbnails for all participants

Stairway into Yesteryear

Here I go again flitting into doorways. This is a stairway inside an old building (dated 1901) near the main railroad station. It must have been lovely once-upon-a-time, and I feel sad that this entrance and stairway have been so neglected. Judging by the façade of the building, I imagine that the entire structure will be razed and replaced by a more modern, but probably very impersonal apartment or office building. (I just had to use the word 'yesteryear' in the title...reminds me of the lead-in to the Lone Ranger TV show I watched as a kid.)

ABC Wednesday "O" is for "On Duty"

Here’s a security guard that isn’t exactly sleeping on the job, but he IS reading the newspaper. Mind you, although there have been robberies in broad daylight at the ‘menjacnice’ (exchange offices) around town, there really isn’t a high risk of this happening, and our fellow here probably is aware of that! Wonder if he’d notice if someone quietly slipped out with a big bag…

Join ABC Wednesday here .

Poppy seeds and noodles

A recent visit to the market in search of homemade noodles for soup yielded this photo. I bought the tagliatelle-looking ones. The piles of more thinly cut noodles in the back look like blond and curlier versions of Cousin Id from the Adams Family. Notice the poppy seeds, which are either sprinkled on cooked noodles like these with a little sugar or made into sweet cakes like this one

Broke my promise...a little...

I promised you the other day that there'd be no more redheads, but I just couldn't resist this shot of three girls I saw downtown the other day. Now you have three hair colors!

Rain...

This past week's weather was pretty good, considering rain had been predicted. A bit did fall yesterday, and I snapped this photo, preserving the original red and white umbrella and making the rest black and white...which is what the weather looked like for a while.

The Bolivian Witch Doctor

Yes, there is a Bolivian Watch Doctor in Belgrade...or sort of. This costume stands in part of the museum "25th of May," dedicated to Josip Broz "Tito". In the same complex is his tomb. In any case, the costume was presented to Tito by the government of Bolivia. Don't you just love the doc's shoes?

Three rooftops and a sky

Happy Skywatch! Here's a photo of Belgrade's former department store (on the right...) and two older rooftops. (Sorry for the late posting...Internet problems...)

Join Skywatch right here: http://skyley.blogspot.com