It’s been mentioned a few times in this blog that I am not into the monarchy thing. I don’t follow personalities in general per se. However, I see royalty as culture and an important part of the country’s history, so therefore I regard their presence and identity well in the society.
Life as a high-profile royal, especially a European royal is not an easy walk in the park. Because gone are the days that royals have real power. They are somewhat demoted to being the PR house (press relations) of the country and are often seen as a symbol that unites the nation and as an image representation internationally.
THIS IS A FACT: European royals live in glass covered palaces. Everything they do are subjected to criticism. They have a committee of advisors that help them give meaning to privacy and living normal lives, away from the scrutiny of the media and the public. Royals in principle have no real freedom; they can’t even speak out their minds? They learn to become puppets and people pleasers.
This is what happens when you have an empowered and watchful media - populace that can and will find fault on everything about people placed on pedestals.
I can’t say much about royals in other parts of the world, but try criticising the king or queen of an Asian or Arab country and you’ll see serious ramifications. Whereas in Europe, the royals—kings and queens, and princes and princesses have become the laughing stock of many tabloids, public commentary platforms and television commercials and shows. They are fragile and their existence are at the hands of their people (check out the troubled royals in Spain and Belgium). Times indeed have changed!
Hmm, definitely not a place I would love to sit. Like I said, it is not easy being a royal in Europe.
TRIVIA: Did you know that in the Netherlands the king is not crowned but instead inaugurated? He does not literally wear the crown compared to their counterpart in the UK (where the Queen literally wears the crown). In the Netherlands, the crown is seen as a symbol only. Because in reality, the royal house does not have power over the politics and the land.
Interestingly, many Dutch people (and I think Europeans in a country with a royal house) would not ever want to be in their shoes. I remember growing up and dreaming of becoming a princess—don’t we all go through this phase? Well, let’s just say that I am glad it remains a dream of a bygone childhood era.
Here’s a good write up from BBC about the adaptability of the Dutch Royal ‘Orange’ House into the 21st century.
Willem-Alexander sworn in as King of the Netherlands
BBC picture slideshow of the event
More picture slideshow from NU.nl:
King Willem-Alexander inauguration
Royal boat parade on Het IJ
More pictures of other European royals guests
Lastly, you might ask why I or we didn’t go to Amsterdam to witness the event? Well, firstly, we are not royal fans... secondly, we hate crowds... and thirdly, we are not anymore into partying. It’s better to follow the events on the tube in the comforts of my lounge chair.
Other than that, I really had no energy left after my road trip. I even slept on the sofa this afternoon watching the event. Dutchman and I were glad we stayed at home, relaxed and far from the craziness we are watching on TV.
Nevertheless, more soon about the road trip I made =)
April 30,
The Netherlands
The blizzard that has swept over the East Coast in the past couple of days has left everyone stunned. After Boston received over a foot of snow within a 24-hour period and another half a foot the next day, life came to a halt. The street plows were quickly overwhelmed, a snow emergency was declared, public transportation ceased, and drivers were asked to stay off the roads. What had been a perfectly functional city only a day earlier quickly turned into a desolate snow-covered landscape. Our Cambridge/Somerville neighbourhood in particular resembled a Siberian village by Sunday evening, with only the rooftops and the tips of pine trees peaking out under a thick blanket of white, as the darkened sky continued to dump more powder onto the abandoned streets.
Our family phoned to ask how we were coping. Did we have enough food and was our heating working? I had to giggle at the imagery of being trapped in our home, eating canned food next to a space heater. After all, I had just returned from a mile-long trek to the grocery store, somehow managing not to perish in the process. I sympathise deeply with those whose travel plans were derailed because of the storm, and even more so with those who are stuck in airports. But I am surprised by the mass panic and the "hide in the bunker" sentiment of those who are merely staying at home in the city. We are not being bombed. The snow is not radioactive or poisonous (well, at least not significantly so). We can conquer it by... walking! and by wearing really warm clothing!
I do not subscribe to the "you're not made of sugar and won't melt " line of thought: We can get sick if we go out in bad weather dressed inappropriately. But dressing appropriately is not difficult, and can vastly improve our relationship with nature. Remember the fun of "snow days"? A walk to the grocery store during a blizzard can be just as nice. There are parts of the world where this weather is normal and not a "snow emergency" at all. I have lived in such areas and found my winters to be more enjoyably spent there. But in Southern New England, the winter months are treated as something one just needs to tolerate until they are over - which, to me at least, is rather sad. While I miss cycling on the days the roads are impassable, I don't want to contribute to that mentality. I love snow, and I love the magic of winter. And I did see a mountain biker on my way to the grocery store! The streets were abandoned except for me, him, and the occasional snowplow. We waved to each other across the vast expanse of white and silver, each encouraged by the other's presence.
A bit of poetic licences is involved here but I call this bridge Initial Bridge because I can make my Initials C.B from it.
It's almost time for the Opening Ceremonies! The Genea-Blogger Group Games (henceforth known here as "The Games") officially begin on Saturday with genea-bloggers from around the world participating. Consisting of five categories with various tasks to be performed, The Games will certainly be a challenge. I'm looking forward to these games and "meeting" some of the new Genea-Bloggers. I'm also looking forward to those "other" games that will be going on at the same time!
Pictured are a Fusion (the Green Machine) and a last year's Nomic over layed.
Roj.....Roger Strong.
Some parts where time stood still:
Some parts where time marches forward. (I did not snap any of these places today). There is always some evidence of religion:
Patriotism:
and Education:
All of these are interesting. I enjoy them as we see them. Nothing compares to my favorite category of all though. It is the What the ?????? category. It's the things that have me wanting to stop the truck, climb out and ask the story behind it. For example:
There has to be a story behind this sign, which was placed in someone's yard. Where there were no apparent businesses around. I'm still trying to figure out the secret message. Which is most definitely proof that the message was not to me.
I had three lenses with me in the camera bag yesterday, so I thought it would be neat to illustrate how different lenses affect the way a bicycle looks in pictures. Here are three photos of my mixte standing in the same position, taken with (left to right:) an 85mm lens, a 50mm lens, and a 35mm lens, using identical camera settings. Notice any differences?
Here is a closer look at the picture taken with the 85mm lens. First off, notice the relationship of the bicycle to the trees: In this picture the bike looks like it is positioned in between the trees. There are hardly any trees in the frame itself and if I wanted to I could crop them out all together, making the bike an isolated object in the midst of snow and sand. There is also not a great deal of background information in the space above the bike: a few stairs, but that is all. Furthermore, the things in the background are kind of blurry in comparison to how sharp the bicycle itself looks. And finally, take a look at the size of the bicycle's wheels. The bike is slightly turned toward the camera and the front wheel is closer to me than the rear. But despite this, the front wheel does not look much larger than the rear; the bicycle looks proportional. The 85mm lens is considered a "portrait lens" precisely because it creates these effects: It isolates the subject from the clutter of surrounding objects and reduces unflattering foreshortening effects in the subject's face and body.
Now the same scene, but taken with a 50mm lens. Notice how much more background information is visible in this picture. And it's impossible to crop out, because all that extra stuff is directly behind the bike, rather than around it. The same trees that were spread out to the right and left in the previous picture, now overlap with the bike's wheels and can't be cropped out. More stuff in the space above the bike is visible as well - now we see not just the stairs, but a winding path. And the background scenery is in sharper focus than in the previous picture. It's a nice composition as far as narrative goes (we get more of a sense of the bicycle being in the woods), but a portrait or product photographer would tell you that the background is starting to compete with the subject of the photo. One of the trees looks like it's growing out of the pannier, and the winding path draws the eye away from the forms of the bike itself.
And same scene once again, but with a 35mm lens. The entire patch of woods and the street behind it have now been wrangled into the shot. The background scenery is just as sharp as the bicycle itself, and there's so much of it, that the scene looks altogether cluttered. Also, notice that the front wheel of the bicycle looks considerably larger than the rear, as a result of being closer to the camera. Foreshortening effects are pretty strong with this lens: If I were photographing a person's face, their nose would appear exaggeratedly large in comparison to their eyes for the same reason as the mixte's wheels look to be different sizes.
There is much more to be said about differences between these lenses, and in fact I haven't given a proper introduction to camera lenses at all - but that would take ages and it's nothing you can't find in an online reference. Hopefully, these pictures illustrate the way in which lenses play a role in bicycle photography, and why sometimes it seems like you just can't compose the shot you want with your camera. For those of you who use digital SLRs with interchangeable lenses, which do you prefer to use for bicycle photos?