Mermaid Human Statue in Las Ramblas, Barcelona

Once upon a time there was a little mermaid, a sad and lonely little mermaid, working nine to five out of the water to make ends meet in Las Ramblas, Barcelona. She only wanted to go with her father in the deep blue sea some miles away from Barcelona port but human money was better than devaluated seashells in her underwater world. Tough life indeed, so much makeup, scales getting dry in the sun and those stingy strange creatures with no tail staring at her like a school of fish. Yeah, it sounds like a tale but human statues in Las Ramblas are real people, they need the money so let's give them some coins to take back home cause they really deserve it.

Picture I liked today from the City Daily Photo group: Free Parking by Hyderabad Daily Photo, India. I like the silhouette of the road and the incredible amount of cars in the huge traffic jam.

Useful Link of the Day: Google AJAX Search API Wizards. These are very intuitive wizards you can use to implement maps, news or videos in your site. You don't have to tweak the code, just fill up some fields and voila!

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Rafols Hardware Store: Ironwork in Barcelona

Ferreteria Rafols (hardware store) is located at Ronda de Sant Pere, 74. Its façade is catalogued as part of the urban and architectural elements in Barcelona, mainly due to the ironwork which dates back to 1919 and was made by Calixte Tresserras. Wrought iron was commonly used to adorn commercial buildings at the beginnings of last century. Maybe you would like to learn the words on the signs, left: Drugstore, Houseware and right: Nuts, Bolts and Screws; Tools, Lock Work.

Picture I liked today from the City Daily Photo group: Growing Back by Iblowfish from Cleveland Daily Photo, Ohio. I think it has good bw treatment, the title fits perfectly and the image is well composed and powerful.

Useful Link of the Day: The Blogger's Guide to Search Engine Optimization

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Holy Scene 2 at Pedralbes Monastery

This is my second holy scene taken inside the Pedralbes Monastery. As you can see it is another miniature representation of a religious passage. The light was dim, but the set as I pointed out in the first holy scene, was spectacular. I want to remind you and the bots that this blog is not about religion. I prefer to stick to photography which is much more fun as a hobby. Christmas is around the corner so I think this topic is more than suitable and besides, art manifests in many forms that enrich our knowledge in many ways.

Pictures I liked today: From I Heart Manila in the Dailyphoto Group - Meet Pacquiao and Cheese! by Blupic at Flickr.

Suggested Application for Diggers: Digg Explorer v1.1 by Neoformix

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Arc de Triomph Detail with Modernist Street Lamp

This a detail of our Arc de Triomf (L'arc de Triomphe - The Arch of Triumph) which I had ignored in my pictures so far, maybe because obvious things in the city sometimes are overlooked by its inhabitants. Next to the monument and all along Passeig de Lluis Companys you have these wonderful Catalan Art Nouveau street lamps. Built during the 1888 Universal Exhibition by architect Josep Vilaseca i Casanovas, the arch was the main entrance to the venues. As you can see it is made of bricks and is an important representative of the Moorish revival style. Check my google map below to find the exact place in Barcelona.

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Bridge Over Barcelona Port as Seen From Sightseeing Boat

This is the bridge over Barcelona Port as seen from a sightseeing boat of Las Golondrinas company, I already published a post with all the details about this magnificent bridge which I recommend you: La Porta de Europa

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Reading on the Maremagnum Wooden Platform at Barcelona Harbor

The wooden platform along Maremagnum center is made in such a way that it is everything but a wharf. You can see people jogging, kissing, feeding the pigeons, taking pictures and many of them like this person, reading. Gosh, I wish I had the patience to do that. Why is it that some of us find time and have the will to go to places and some others don't, I mean, the place is not exactly near any building, so you need to plan it, "today I am going to the port and read a book, no matter how cold it is, I will do it". By the way, notice the buoy, pretending to look the other way not to disturb the reader or perhaps watching the seagulls fly?

Here are some other pictures of Maremagnum area I found interesting via Barcelona Yellow

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Cocoa Butter Bath Soap: Are You a Hedonist or What?

If you are a real Hedonist (hey man, don't start calling me names) then you should try taking a bath with one of these cocoa butter soap cakes. Hmm, I imagine the scent of chocolate and the sudden urge to swallow the water or sip it with a straw pretending the foam was some kind of whip cream on top of a chocolate icecream.
I want to recommend some entertaining stuff now that we are talking about sense and sensibility. Watch this AppleTV Flash Mashup, you can take your laptop to the bathroom if you feel like it. By the way, before you ask, the sign says: Melt yourself down in a bath of pink clouds and hyper hydrating cocoa butter (damn, dude, you sure sound weird, are yu on something or what?)

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Chocolate Trade Show, Barcelona: Kid Drinks From Ice Sculpture

Chocolate Trade Show, Barcelona: Kid Drinks From Ice Sculpture. Not that it has to do much with chocolate or a trade show, the subject here is the kid and perhaps the ice sculpture. Well, in fact the left side of the sculpture was stuffed with small chocolate treats but the presence of people nearby made me disregard that part. It was some kind of game. Kids could drink from the ice in the hope that it tasted like chocolate but obviously he chose the most insipid portion.

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Chocolate Trade Show in Barcelona: A Fruit Treat

A fruit treat like this, with a chocolate touch was the bait some stalls used to trap innocent victims on an empty stomach in the Chocolate Trade Show held in Barcelona some days ago. You can't say they aren't attractive and surely they are perfect to undermine your will. I remember I didn't touch them, stubborn as I am with my diet and my gym mentality, you know, when you tell people "no, I can't have chocolate, it has too much calories" as if the doctor had prescribed it or your own religion forbade it. "No, this is a sin" you think, "get away from me, shoo!, shoo!". I remember that now, watching those strawberries and pineapple chunks, and I realize how stupid I was. Sniff.

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Liqueurs by Faraco and Feixas at Chocolate Trade Show, Barcelona

This is a picture of a small sample of liqueurs by Faraco and Feixas that drew my attention while visiting the Chocolate Trade Show next to the Arc de Triomf monument some days ago. Faraco Feixas, S.L. is a company that elaborates and sells liquors, wine, and oil. I was really impressed by the design of the labels that imitate the Scrabble game in a way, the bottles and the variety of attractive products so I decided to feature them in my blog for free. Hey, if you ever read this send me one of those! See a previous post about drinks: absinthe

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Creepy Two Headed Dolls For The New Kids

Times are achanging and new generations need different toys, like these two headed dolls, a sort of monster that takes from Tim Burton's Corpse Bride, Betty Boop, Manga Films and Japanese terror movies like the Ring. The shop, a wonderful place to buy curious modern stuff like this is on Ali Bei street near Passeig de Sant Joan, if I am not in a mistake. It was closed at the moment I took the picture so I had to stick my lens through the bars of the rolling metallic doors. Carrer Ali Bei is becoming a zone of comic and freak stores. In fact I believe there is a shop called Freaks at Ali Bei 10 that may be the place to find the dolls. Please any fan or freak correct me if I am wrong.

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Thanksgiving Dessert: Chocolate Covered Fruit

Chocolate covered fruit is my proposal for Thanksgiving dessert. I wouldn't like to interrupt your turkey time but this is a simple dessert, a low calorie one if you don't exceed too much with the chocolate or go directly for the upper pastries. This picture was captured in a recent chocolate trade show celebrated in Barcelona which I plan to show you soon in detail. Happy Thanksgiving! I know this post appears some days in advance, don't worry about that. I will update my posting asap.

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Thanksgiving Musings From Barcelona, Spain

"The Thanksgiving holiday was established as a national day of giving thanks and praise to God". I am going to take profit of the religious mood created with my two previous posts about Pedralbes Monastery, to show you this holy scene which was part of a small exhibition located in the cellars of the building. The light was dim but the small scale figures, the magnificent set and the illumination were worthy enough to photograph from a very close distance that excluded the framing and created the atmosphere to make it look almost real. Happy Thanksgiving my friends! Here are a bunch of Thanksgiving recipes just in case.

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Stained Glass Window. Pedralbes Monastery. Barcelona, Spain

While in Pedralbes Monastery I noticed this beautiful stained glass window. Everytime I see these religious figures pierced by the incoming light I wonder what effect would the colors and scenes have upon the extremely faithful and fearful medieval souls. Then I can't help thinking on how many people have prayed gazing towards the infinite nothingness asking for divine favors through these stained glass panes. All those years of solitude and whispering slowly come and soothe my soul like a monotonous litany. I am not a religious man and I can't really explain what it is. Maybe is just because my father took me to churches just for the sake of art, literally, or so he said. This art with a purpose, the Gothic purpose of impressing parishioners always works, even for me.

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Pedralbes Gothic Monastery in Barcelona, Spain

Built in the fourteenth century, the Pedralbes single-nave gothic monastery is located right under the mountains that mark the upper limits of Barcelona city. The impressive religious building was founded in 1326 by Queen Elisenda de Montcada the third wife of James II. In the image above you see the cloister garden under the morning sun full of medicinal plants. A must see besides the Pedralbes Monastery Museum (Bajada del Monasterio, 9, Tel.: 93 203 92 82) is the Thyssen-Bornemisza Art Collection that includes a valuable religious art exhibition from XV and XVII. You can get to Pedralbes Monastery on the sightseeing buses as this is part of the Romanesque and Gothic Route. Check this one in particular: Bus Turistic The Northern Route

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Yellow Flowers Fantasy

This yellow flowers fantasy could be easily called Psychedelic Garden II since it is very similar to a previous post of mine. I took this picture in the cloister garden of Pedralbes Monastery which I will show you tomorrow and of course the original background was green.

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Sant Pol de Mar, Maresme Coast, Catalonia, Spain

Sant Pol de Mar beach on Maresme Coast near Barcelona last October 28th. As you see we had a very fine weather this fall. I say we had, cause we are freezing these days. I like to post fine weather pictures that give me strength to stand the winter. See more details about Sant Pol

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Eggplants and Potatoes

What in the world? Yes, these are baby eggplants I patiently piled up on top of a box of potatoes. In fact I just liked the brilliant color of the aubergines but I thought potatoes would help highlight the purple reddish plant. From the food point of view, now that I introduce these vegetables, let's say that there are recipes that include both ingredients. With this link to Indian Vegetarian Recipes and especially the Eggplant and Potato Curry (Vagan Bateta nu Shak) I am sure the post really acquires a real meaning no matter how surrealistic I may sound. I'm in the middle of a mystic trance lately, it must be the winter!
Note: More Eggplant and Potato Recipes

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Maremagnum Wooden Bridge: Rush Hours

The wooden bridge at Maremagnum was featured in this photo blog a long time ago (see Waiting for the Bridge at Rambla de Mar for all details about the bridge and the architects who designed it). As you can guess, the place being a neuralgic spot in the city is crammed with people during rush hours, which are basically all day long in the Port Vell area. As my picture is static and perhaps only creates a mood in your mind, why not stimulate your imagination a little more with a virtual tour around Port Vell at night via Arounder (a wonderful site by the way!) *VR not working in Firefox :(
To finish I would like to mention a modest article about bloggers I started to write at Blogskinny and which I intend to enhance with random thoughts about my blogging experiences during the last two years: Trial and Error Path to Top Ranking Positions: A Personal Testimony

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The Clock Tower at Port Vell, Barcelona, Spain.

My second post about the clock tower (torre del rellotge or far del port) at the Moll dels Pescadors (Fishermen Pier), Barcelona (see Tower of the Clock) is somehow a new different approach since I preferred color and a different pespective this time. I offered a map to locate it then but I will mark the place on my new Google map with the picture so you play with the zoom in the surroundings too.

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Green Pomegranates

Three pomegranates, green pomegranates. I thought those who enjoyed the previous post and said it was hard to see exotic fruit and plants in the USA deserved a second image. If you missed the ripe pomegranate shot follow the link.

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She Giant Queen

Absurd title I know. I can't believe I had yet another giant to show. This queen with bags under her eyes is the last one I promise.

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Curious Hen

And now for what was happening at the bottom of the cage. Another hen, trying to find out what my flash was and all the fuzz. Maybe checking if all the eggs were safe.

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A Hen's Life. Laying Eggs On the Double

A hen's life can be very boring laying eggs by the dozen and on the double but this one had a minute for me and accepted to pose for the camera. Check next post to see what was happening right at the bottom of the cage.

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Grapes. An Idyllic Symbol. So Sweet and Yet So Sour

I am trying to figure out what I meant with this title. I reckon I just tried to evoke all the ideas that come to your head when you see grapes, specially if hanging from the tree. You can practice with this image. How many things can this fruit inspire? Abundance, love, parties, wine...can you reach them or are they too sour?

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Sonimagfoto 2007 at Fira de Barcelona, Montjuic

As I said I don't have any clue about this picture at the Sonimagfoto exhibition either but to compensate I will give you this link to AFP (Professional Photographers Association), the organization that grants the most important photography awards in Spain. The site is in Spanish but I highly recommend the portfolios if you want to know the work of Spanish photographers.

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Sonimagfoto Montjuic: Photography Exhibition

During my visit to Sonimagfoto event in Fira de Barcelona, Montjuic some photographs really called my attention so I will dedicate them two posts in a row. I wish I could mention the author as some photographers in this gallery were granted the AFP Lux Awards, the most important professional photography awards in Spain but I always take shots and forget about getting details. Yes I know I am a mess!

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CosmoCaixa Science Museum: Exotic Aquarium

This fish I photographed at Cosmocaixa Science Museum (check mark on map). There is a big tank with exotic species in a simulation of a jungle habitat in the Amazonian rivers. I can't tell you what it is. It looks like a snook to me because of the shape but it doesn't have a lateral stripe. There were also pirannas in there. There is a part of the tank where you have the water level at the reach of your hands, there is no protection, just a sign that says "watch it, pirannas are carnivore fish" although someone told me there is a herbivore specimen. I suggest you don't try to find out.

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Small Capgrossos Carried by Kids, La Merce 2007, Barcelona, Spain

Small Capgrossos carried by kids, La Merce 2007, Barcelona, Spain. I think this is the last picture of the series. Check capgros label to see them all.

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Capgrossos Parade, La Merce 2007, Barcelona, Spain

Yet another image of the Capgrossos Parade during La Merce 2007 celebrations in Barcelona, Spain.

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