In Walled States, Waning Sovereignty , Wendy Brown reflects on the proliferation of nation-state walls in a time of eroded nation-state sovereignty and intensifying transnational powers unleashed by globalization.
How do walls shore up an imago of sovereign statehood and to what extent do they fortify reactionary national imaginaries? What do the new walls perform symbolically, materially, mentally?
Sigh. This is going to bug me until I fix it. Cold section of a wall in my house (undergoing repair), an opening into an (empty) unconditioned space. The insulation in there was removed due to a plumbing disaster, but because there's nothing else on the other side, the insulation there either was not installed or was already knocked loose when the new drywall went up. I'm just going to cut myself some access panels later, crawl in, and add my own insulation $10 of insulation. #flir#insulation#energy
Well, one problem fixed!! See the FLIR difference between the last wall and this wall. (red = cold in the last wall... you'll note this same wall now you can't see any difference in temperature). #FLIR#insulation#walls
The Music Of Chance Trailer 1993. Director: Philip HaasStarring: Charles Durning, Christopher Penn, James Spader, Joel Grey, M. Emmet Walsh, Mandy Patinkin..
@paul_ipv6 posted about #project managers, fanciful #schedules, and his response involving a Magic 8-Ball. It reminded me of a story I've told about one place I worked. I've never told it here.
I was working at a small-to-medium-sized IT/#software company that had a few internal products, but mostly did outsourced R&D work for a behemoth company - one of the largest on the planet at the time.
It was classic #waterfall planning. HugeCo's R&D department would send us a high-level #spec.
Our #president and the #VP of #engineering would break our company's share of the work into #blocks or #modules, those would flow out to individual #team leads. Teams would break it down into tasks, and then come up with #estimates for each #task. There would be hundreds of tickets overall; projects generally lasted 6 months to a year.
Then the president and VP would go into the #boardroom with hundreds of these tasks on #PostIt notes and #stick them all over 3 #walls.
The small village of #Walls on the #Shetland Islands. I visited last year and hopefully will get to go back someday.
Taken with my very humble EOS 1100D and Canon 40mm lens
Basalt Lava Rock Construction, Castello Nelson, Bronte, Sicily, Italy
This photo shows the traditional Sicilian building method with Etna’s basalt lava. You will see this everywhere on the east coast of the island. In modern buildings, the basalt is usually cut and finished to a high polish and used as trim for poured-in-place concrete structures with terracotta black inner walls. Our family’s kitchen is fitted with lovely basalt lava counters matched with traditional Sicilian tiles. The muratore (masons), literally translated as wall builders, were skilled craftsmen who could take randomly shaped rock and make beautiful, strong, structures.
Here is a small piece of interesting history about the castle.
“Prior to Italian unification, the Kingdom of the Two Sicilies, the largest of the Italian States, was comprised of the Kingdom of Sicily and the Kingdom of Naples. In 1799, King Ferdinand l, the Bourbon King of the Two Sicilies (aka King Ferdinand IV, King of Naples, aka King Ferdinand III, King of Sicily), in appreciation for the admiral's support in suppressing a French-inspired insurrection in Naples, gave Horatio Nelson a title (Duke of Bronte) and a town (my grandmother's hometown), or, more precisely, "the land and the same town of Bronte, the revenue stamps, the incomes of the vassals, the servitudes, the rents..."
The Castle was a former monastery and, at that time, in total disrepair. Admiral Nelson never had the opportunity to live, let alone visit his property. Nevertheless, from England and with the help of estate managers (who most probably cheated him), Admiral Nelson planned the first of many renovations in the hope that he and Lady Hamilton would retire to Bronte one day and live a peaceful, quiet life away from whispers and gossip. This connection to Bronte was so strong that he had begun to sign his name, Nelson and Bronte.”
These #wavy#walls actually use less bricks than a straight wall because they can be made just one brick thin, while a straight wall—without buttresses—would easily topple over.
Wavy walls are also known as serpentine walls, or ribbon walls. The alternate convex and concave curves in the wall provide stability and help it to resist lateral forces.
Basalt Lava Rock Construction, Castello Nelson, Bronte, Sicily, Italy
This photo shows the traditional Sicilian building method with Etna’s basalt lava. You will see this everywhere on the east coast of the island. In modern buildings, the basalt is usually cut and finished to a high polish and used as trim for poured-in-place concrete structures with terracotta black inner walls. Our family’s kitchen is fitted with lovely basalt lava counters matched with traditional Sicilian tiles. The muratore (masons), literally translated as wall builders, were skilled craftsmen who could take randomly shaped rock and make beautiful, strong, structures.
Here is a small piece of interesting history about the castle.
“Prior to Italian unification, the Kingdom of the Two Sicilies, the largest of the Italian States, was comprised of the Kingdom of Sicily and the Kingdom of Naples. In 1799, King Ferdinand l, the Bourbon King of the Two Sicilies (aka King Ferdinand IV, King of Naples, aka King Ferdinand III, King of Sicily), in appreciation for the admiral's support in suppressing a French-inspired insurrection in Naples, gave Horatio Nelson a title (Duke of Bronte) and a town (my grandmother's hometown), or, more precisely, "the land and the same town of Bronte, the revenue stamps, the incomes of the vassals, the servitudes, the rents..."
The Castle was a former monastery and, at that time, in total disrepair. Admiral Nelson never had the opportunity to live, let alone visit his property. Nevertheless, from England and with the help of estate managers (who most probably cheated him), Admiral Nelson planned the first of many renovations in the hope that he and Lady Hamilton would retire to Bronte one day and live a peaceful, quiet life away from whispers and gossip. This connection to Bronte was so strong that he had begun to sign his name, Nelson and Bronte.”
Blue/Red theme. Having fun with the color-pop theme this week. And Florence, Arizona is a virtual treasure chest of great walls, doors, windows and historical buildings.
Cyan theme - Frames. The old Cuen House and Butcher Shop (1883), and the first telephone exchange in Florence, Arizona (1902). Leased by one of Arizona’s most notable early politicians and judges, Earnest Macfarland, or “Mac”, set up an attorney’s office with partner Tom Fulbright in 1930. After years of disuse and the town of Florence reacquiring the building, it is now home to a small business.
Dog-walking in the murk this morning. This drystane wall near Scoor on Mull makes unusual, but excellent use of long thin stones from the surrounding Moine metamorphic rocks. Perhaps one for @Ivor ? #Walls#Mull
Trailer: The Music Of Chance (Philip Haas, 1993) (m.youtube.com)
The Music Of Chance Trailer 1993. Director: Philip HaasStarring: Charles Durning, Christopher Penn, James Spader, Joel Grey, M. Emmet Walsh, Mandy Patinkin..