wwp@yahoogroups.com:
Re: the next theme
Alex Makienko 2004-Aug-13 00:06:00
I am in.
Hope to find something interesting here in Canada. Not pre-historic but...
:-)
Alex
----- Original Message -----
From: "G. Donald Bain" <#removed#>
To: <#removed#>
Sent: Thursday, August 12, 2004 2:56 PM
Subject: the next theme
> As you may have noticed I have been in and out of contact a lot in
> recent weeks, participating in discussions some days, then
> disappearing. Landis is on the road continuously for a while now, so we
> hear from him also only intermittently.
>
> But it is time to move on - the Equinox is only six weeks away. A
> theme needs to be determined so we can organize our lives around this
> event!
>
> There have been many good suggestions, and we have at least a couple of
> years of excellent themes to work on.
>
> My concern right now is to be as inclusive as possible - we need to
> keep building the base of participants. We don't want a theme that will
> be a problem for anyone, or too difficult. This is certainly a
> challenge, considering the range of cultures, climates, and
> personalities we have to work with.
>
> Here's my proposal:
>
> BRIDGES -- A World Wide Panorama -- September 18-22, 2004
>
> Every place on earth has bridges, from heroic suspension spans to
> graceful arches over the canals of Venice. There are scary swinging
> bridges, busy bridges over urban rivers, high arched bridges in
> Japanese gardens, picturesque covered bridges in the countryside,
> bridges that open for shipping, floating bridges, Roman bridges still
> in use, ancient bridges in China.
>
> Bridges are interesting, in their engineering, their materials, their
> setting, their history. They are important, providing vital access
> across rivers and to islands. Some carry huge volumes of traffic,
> others cross international boundaries. Bridges can be short but
> complicated, the soaring loops of a freeway interchange, or immensely
> long like the causeway connecting the Florida Keys. Some cross deep
> narrow gorges in the mountains, others span turbulent tidal channels.
> They can be symbolic, like a Chinese nine-turn bridge, or strictly
> utilitarian, like the ubiquitous Bailey bridges.
>
> Bridges can be beautiful, in and of themselves. From the classic spans
> of ancient times, to the bravado of the industrial revolution, to
> dramatic new shapes by Santiago Calatrava. Bridges sometimes provide
> the grace-note to a dramatic scene, the focal point of a landscape.
> Bridges over lakes and streams in gardens and parks are often works of
> art, carefully designed for visual effect as well as utility.
>
> Many bridges are famous: the Golden Gate Bridge, Brooklyn Bridge,
> London Bridge (in Arizona) and Tower Bridge (still in London), the
> Bridge of Sighs in Venice, Sydney Harbor Bridge, the Eads Bridge over
> the Mississippi, the new bridges over the Inland Sea in Japan, the
> Tagus River Bridge in Lisbon, the Firth of Forth bridges in Scotland.
>
> Taken metaphorically, bridges can be anything that helps us to progress
> from one place to another, spanning barriers and obstacles. There are
> social and cultural bridges, economic and business bridges, emotional
> and psychological bridges.
>
> So, I think we can all find something exciting to contribute on the
> theme of BRIDGES.
>
> More information later.
>
> Don
> ----------
> G. Donald Bain
> Director, Geography Computing Facility
> University of California, Berkeley
>
>
>
>
> ------
> The World-Wide Panorama
>
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