Note: While I am a biologist by training and occupation, I’m not a public health expert. This is not medical advice, instead a way for me to share my experiences while traveling during the pandemic. As much as I wish I was traveling the world, now is not the time, and until the US gets […]
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Lauded by Tolstoy and idolised by the Soviet Union, Nikolai Miklouho-Maclay campaigned for the suppression of slavery and challenged deceitful Europeans
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Born in Rozhdestvenskoye, Russia, on 17 July 184, and cursed with a name that’s confusing even for Russophiles, Miklouho-Maclay may be the greatest and most likable 19th-century explorer you’ve never heard of.
Claim to fame
His adventures straddled the globe from the Canary Islands and North Africa to Patagonia, Easter Island, China, Thailand, Malaysia, Australia, the Philippines and New Guinea. His main interest was ethnography: seeking out uncontacted tribes to see what he might learn from them. Given the era’s mood of white supremacy bolstered by dubious racial science, Miklouho-Maclay’s open-minded engagement with the subject is amazing. He believed he and the tribespeople shared a common humanity, and was further convinced by his investigations of the brains of executed Australian criminals. His conclusion – that all races possessed identical intellectual potential – led him to campaign against slavery and for the rights of indigenous people.
Supporting documentation
Miklouho-Maclay didn’t live long enough to complete a magnum opus, and his Australian wife, Margaret, destroyed some of his Russian journals.However, surviving diaries detail his encounters with several tribes, his attempts to record native languages and his despair about the influence of his fellow Europeans, noting: “The Europeans exploit the natives, and by their example they develop habits of lying and deceit.”
A few weeks ago we took the Lake Shore Limited from New York’s Penn Station to upstate New York. Currently, due to COVID-19, Amtrak is limiting capacity in the coach cars to 50% of capacity and you have the option on the sleeper trains, like this one, to pay for a private Roomette or a […]
Read the rest of this article at Review: Amtrak Sleeper Bedroom During COVID-19.
Explore Ireland’s history and culture through these tales of loss and love by Sally Rooney, Edna O’Brien, Colm Tóibín and more
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I was born in Toronto and moved to Ireland as a boy, where I spent some formative years in a planned, Khrushchevian-style satellite town in south County Clare. Settlers arrived in waves from Belfast, London, New York or further afield – from cities throughout Chile and South Africa. In this multicultural outpost, populated by residential tourists, we became wry observers of traditional nuances. For me, Ireland’s political, historical and cultural landscapes were first properly discovered in the country’s literature. The greats, such as Wilde, Yeats and Joyce, offered signposts to the past while more contemporary writers, including Roddy Doyle, Flann O’Brien and Jamie O’Neill, shone a light on lesser-heard Irish voices. And so my selection of novels echoes Ireland’s literary journey from pre-famine to the present day.
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Through the Fluz app for Android and Apple you can purchase $10 gift cards for less than $5 right now. Big savings are available thanks to two promotions which are stackable. New users or those who grow their network and invite users will earn 35% cash back voucher. Plus, those with American Express cards can […]
Read the rest of this article at Fluz: $10 Starbucks Gift Cards and More for Less than $5.
This is truly a sad time for all avgeeks and passengers that had a love affair with “The Queen Of The Skies”, the Boeing 747. British Airways has withdrawn its entire fleet of 747 aircraft, four years ahead of schedule. This magnificent lady has flown the world with five decades of faithful service. The Beginning […]
Read the rest of this article at British Airways Says Farewell To The Queen.
This news qualifies as somewhat old, but still worth examining with interest in contactless payments continuing to rise. Payment service Plastiq recently announced a fee increase from 2.5% to 2.85%. Unfortunately, this significantly cuts the value of using Plastiq; however, there are still some scenarios where it continues to make sense. Plastiq’s Previous Value Proposition […]
Read the rest of this article at Plastiq Fee Increase Significantly Reduces Value Proposition.
A new ‘slow tourism’ initiative is promoting 70 trails from Sicily to Friuli. We pick some of the most beautiful
Io Cammino in Italia (I Walk in Italy) is a campaign by walkers, guides, tour operators and hospitality providers, set up amid the coronavirus pandemic to work with local authorities to promote “slow tourism” on the country’s long-distance trails. The aim is to help rural economies hit by months of lockdown.
“In just a few days our lives changed,” says leading member Gianluigi Bettin, a guidebook writer and sustainable-tourism expert. “We became suddenly aware of our vulnerability. Now, even if our bodies are healthy, we can see that our society is not, and it’s not all down to Covid-19. Many of us see the chance, even the need, to reassess our lifestyle and values. And one simple way to do this is to walk more.”
Continue reading...The tourists are trickling back but the streets and canals are still quiet enough to make cycling around the city an unexpected summer treat
There are many things I’ve missed about travelling in recent months, but it took a chocolate shoe rolled, high heel to toe, in hundreds-and-thousands to remind me of the simple pleasures to be found inside a European chocolaterie.
I’d spent the morning admiring Dutch greats at Amsterdam’s Rijksmuseum and was ambling along Haarlemmerdijk when the “shoes” caught my eye. Each kleine and grote “pump” (a misnomer if ever I saw one) in the window of Jordino was a different colour and finished with a rose. It was art in its most delectable, edible form.
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或许是出身农家的原因，我钟爱古今中外以农村题材进行创作的艺术家及其作品，比如法国巴比松画派的代表人物让—弗朗索瓦·米勒，他的作品多取材于农民的劳动生活，画风淳朴、自然、凝重，其中《晚钟》和《拾穗者》（见上图，资料图片）尤具代表性。
1814年，米勒出生于法国诺曼底的一个乡村，从小在田垄间长大。农村和农民的生活是米勒艺术灵感的源头。米勒曾经说：“我是个农民，是农民中的农民。”米勒的一生，从孩童到去世，一直生活在劳动者中间，并始终认为自己是劳动人民的一分子。他的创作思想与目的就是要表现农民的辛劳，用平凡的日常劳作场景展现生活的诗意和壮美。
对绘画创作，米勒有自己独特的艺术追求。由于从小见到农民生活的疾苦，深知劳动的意义和价值，他热衷于描绘劳动人民的生活。他的画作因而具有浓郁的田野气息，画中的劳动者形象也真实可亲。
《晚钟》是米勒于1859年创作的一幅布面油画，意境悠远。夕阳照射在刚被耕犁过的垄沟上，一座灰蒙蒙的教堂在远方隐约可见。温暖和煦的阳光下，一对夫妇听到远方教堂响起的钟声，停下手中的劳作，双手合十开始祈祷。在画家笔下，耕者的形象朴实沧桑，整体色调昏暗却不低沉，刻画出晚祷时庄严肃穆的氛围。画家将人物、景物恰如其分地虚化，日暮余晖中，耕者低头静思，大地静穆沉寂。
从这对夫妇脚下简单的农具和贫瘠的土地可以看出，19世纪的法国乡村物产不丰、生活艰辛，但朴实的农民夫妇依然对生活满怀希望，祈盼来年丰收。《晚钟》是静止的，也是流动的；是一幅有声画，也是一首无字诗。深沉、悠远的诗意画面，给人以宁静安详之感。
米勒的另一幅名作《拾穗者》，源于画家的日常生活。画作以一片收获后的田野为背景，以3名正在弯腰捡拾麦穗的妇女为创作对象，画面以暖色调为主，意境和谐安然。据说，画中3位劳动妇女的原型分别是米勒的祖母、母亲和姐姐。3人姿态各不相同，还原了现实生活中真实的劳动场面。拾穗者朴实无华，对土地充满依恋。米勒的艺术手法相当简洁，以描绘真实农民劳作生活来表达对劳动的赞美，肯定普通劳动者在艺术创作中的意义。
罗曼·罗兰曾说：“米勒《拾穗者》中的3位农妇是法国的3位女神。”艺术评论家朱理·卡斯塔奈里说：“这幅画把人间最真实、最朴实的一面用艺术语言表达出来了。无需任何乔装和夸张，表现了真实而伟大的自然。”在米勒笔下，纯朴的农民形象仿佛从画中走来，平凡却直抵心灵。
米勒始终追求宏大与静穆的艺术格调，表现农村题材本来的质朴、自然与静谧。米勒曾写道：“在大地上，你看到人们开垦锄地，辛勤耕耘，在我看来，这才是大地上壮丽的诗篇。”在19世纪的画家中，米勒坚持现实主义创作，从平凡的生活中寻求灵感，以平静、朴素而又本真的艺术语言，歌颂劳动人民的勤劳淳朴，表达对客观世界深厚的热爱之情。
《 人民日报 》（ 2020年07月12日 07 版）
A petition has been started to reinstate the popular train to the French Alps this winter after Eurostar dropped the service for the 2020/21 season
Campaigners have launched a petition to save the popular ski train that runs between London and the French Alps after Eurostar cancelled the service for this winter. The twice-weekly service usually operates between December and April from London St Pancras to 16 ski resorts, including Courchevel, Les Arcs, Tignes, Sainte Foy and Val d’Isère. It carries 24,000 people each season, takes eight hours to cover the 830km to Bourg St Maurice, and offers a low-carbon alternative to flying or driving.
A spokesperson for Eurostar said coronavirus had forced the decision, which was announced on 8 July, specifically “the compulsory wearing of masks, and significantly increased hygiene measures and high-frequency cleaning”, which are “more challenging to maintain on long distance routes”. Eurostar has also cancelled summer routes to Lyon, Avignon and Marseille as a result.
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