Friday, March 27, 2009

Santo domingo, the Dominican Republic

Bartholomew Columbus, brother of Christopher, founded Santo Domingo in 1496, making it the oldest city established by Europeans in the Americas.

St. Augustine, Florida, is the oldest city in the United States. First visited by Ponce de Leon in 1513. Settled in 1565 by Pedro Menendez Aviles.

Mudejar

Antonio Gaudi's Parc Guell, with its organic, asymmetrical forms and brilliantly patterned surfaces, is representative of the architect's eclectic style combining elements of mujedar (Spain's characteristic Christian-Muslim amalgam), Gothic and baroque architecture.

La Mezquita Mosque in Cordoba, Spain, is a breathtaking example of the mujedar style of architecture.
The red and white striped pattern of brick and stone in the arches gives a unity and distinctive character to the whole design. There are more than 80 colored granite jasper and marble pillars in total.

Thursday, March 12, 2009

Stieg Larsson 1954-2004

Swedish political activist and journalist. An international study based on best-seller lists ranked Larsson the No.2 fiction writer in 2008 - after Khaled Hosseini, author of The Kite Runner and A Thousand Splendid Suns.

The Millennium Series = Men Who Hate Women (2005)
The Girl Who Played With Fire (2006)
Castles in the Sky (working title) (2007)
All three have film adaptations in the works.

Tuesday, March 3, 2009

John Gilligan, Kathleen Sibelius

The only father-daughter governors in U.S. history.

John Gilligan - Ohio governor 1971-1975

Kathleen Sibelius - Kansas governor 2003-2009
current - Secretary of Health and Human Services