Skywatch and Reflections Weekend--two-for-one

Here we are at the ethno-village Stanisic (STAH-nee-sheech) in Bijeljina, Republika Srpska, where I traveled two weeks ago. Once again I thank Vlada from Fotkapofotka for the HDR program he sent me. Vlada, whom I've recently met, told me his mother has been after him to take her to this place, so Vlada, get going! It will be Mother's Day this Sunday, at least in the US!

The web page for this ethno-village is currently under construction, but it you go to Google Images and type in Ethno-village Stanisic, lots of photos come up!

This post is both for SKYWATCH and James' Reflection Weekend.

Roll 'em!

First of all, if B Squared of Fort Lauderdale Daily Photo is reading this, I should like to point out that this is not a stripped-down Yugo. This little two-wheeler...er...roller serves to flatten the tennis court that is to the right off this photo, adjacent to the soccer court you see here. Laugh if you like, but it's a rather ingenious contraption! Don't you just love the seat? And remember this little beauty?

ABC Wednesday "P" is for "pig out"

This little hot dog truck is red, red, red! There was no one around when I took this photo from my car while waiting at a red light. I wasn't hungry either, but had I been, this little truck, with its self-dosing hot dog, would have been just the place to pig out!

See what other P's people have posted on ABC WEDNESDAY.

The woman on the wall

This trompe l'oeil statue 'stands' on a wall at the lower end of Skadarlija, a street that makes up most of Belgrade's bohemian quarter. She appears to be decked out in grapes, but roof you see here that she's overlooking is part of a well-known beer garden.

The May flowers April showers brought

Last month Belgrade had a lot of rain. The old saying goes, 'April showers bring May flowers,' and above is the result. Belgrade has been blooming and flowers are in full force now, except for the dandelions, which for the most part, have turned from yellow into puffy white, ready to disperse their seeds at the first wind.

P.S. While doing some spring cleaning, I came upon somethingI'd been given by someone and forgot about. It's a Bower Super Wide .042x lens attachment. Screwed on one of my lenses, it lets me get very up close and personal. On a very wide angle lens, there is vignetting, which in some cases above I cropped out. In the same box with this little pearl was another Merkur .45 digital wide angle with macro, which lets me get even closer...ooooh. Stay tuned.

Sunday Bridges--the border crossing

I'm joining Louis La Vache's Sunday Bridges meme again. Above we see the bridge that one has to cross either before or after the border between Bosnia and Herzegovina and Serbia, near the town of Bjeljina that I visited last week. The girders seem pretty solid , but this is one narrow bridge and it's not in the best shape. I held my breath as this semi passed us.....

Join Louis' Sunday Bridges!

Theme Day-Statues "The Michelin Man'

This Michelin Man has seen better days. I remember seeing these guys atop many a tractor trailer truck when I lived in France in the late sixties/first half of seventies. Perhaps this guy jumped ship...er...truck, and decided to stay in the Republika Srpska where I photographed him. Someone even gave him a Šajkača to wear.

Click here to view thumbnails for all participants

SKYWATCH--An old 'Argument' resurfaces!

An old argument is always likely to resurface, if it's not 'drowned' the first time. You may remember this floating restaurant named Argument that was barely afloat when I showed it over a year ago right here. It's been righted, and it appears that it's going to be fixed up.... Dinner, anyone?
(That's Bibi's playmate running along the sidewalk.)

Check out other bloggers' posts at SKYWATCH.

Composition in blue, red, green, and white

Dutch painter Piet Mondrian developed a non-representational form of art that he called Neo-Plasticism, which consisted of a white background upon which was painted a grid of vertical and horizontal black lines and the three primary colors. There's no grid here, but somehow this composition reminded me of his work. If you click on the Neo-Plasticism link, scroll down the page and see if you agree.

ABC WEDNESDAY 'O' is for 'Open'

Open is what this window is, and while I was driving (I stopped briefly, much to the consternation of the hurried driver behind me, but hey, it's for my blog) and snapped this photo of a disembodied arm with its dimpled elbow.
Check out other O's on ABC WEDNESDAY.

Filip Visnjic, the blind 'gusle' player

Filip Višnjić (VEE-shnyeech) was a popular Bosnian Serb poet and gusle player, known by some as the "Serbian Homer," both because he was blind and for his poetic gift. Last Sunday my son took me for lunch 'abroad,' i.e. in Bijeljina (BEE-yell-yeen-ya) Republika Srpska, the Serbian section of Bosnia-Herzegovina, which lies only 1 1/2 hours from Belgrade. In this town, also incorporated on the town's coat of arms and on one of the country's banknotes, stands this statue of Filip Višnjić. He was a lyric poet, who accompanied his ballads on a gusle. If you go to Youtube and type in gusle, you will hear some samples of contemporary songs/poems accompanied by this instrument.