Saturday, October 31, 2009

Free sofa

Friday, October 30, 2009

Skywatch Friday post



See more Skywatch here.

Thursday, October 29, 2009

Colors

Wednesday, October 28, 2009

No parking? Fine

Tuesday, October 27, 2009

Monday, October 26, 2009

Coast road

Sunday, October 25, 2009

Feet and fag ends

Saturday, October 24, 2009

Friday, October 23, 2009

Skywatch Friday post



See more Skywatch here.

Thursday, October 22, 2009

Snowflake

The chandelier lighting Barone Revoltella's library.

Wednesday, October 21, 2009

Onion

Detail of the Russian-style “villa delle cipolle” (Onion villa) in Barcola.

Tuesday, October 20, 2009

Astor

Astor

Monday, October 19, 2009

Empty swimming pool

The waterfall in Val Rosandra as it waits for the rains to come. Here is what it will hopefully look like in a few months' time: photo (by blupointer66)

Sunday, October 18, 2009

Via Orlandini

Saturday, October 17, 2009

Friday, October 16, 2009

Skywatch Friday post



See more Skywatch here.

Thursday, October 15, 2009

Blog Action Day 2009 - climate change

"Move closer to work" is one of the 10 Solutions for Climate Change suggested by an old article in Scientific American.

Transportation is the second leading source of greenhouse gas emissions in the U.S. But it doesn't have to be that way. One way to dramatically curtail transportation fuel needs is to move closer to work, use mass transit, or switch to walking, cycling or some other mode of transport that does not require anything other than human energy. There is also the option of working from home and telecommuting several days a week.



Wednesday, October 14, 2009

Silver sea

Tuesday, October 13, 2009

Monday, October 12, 2009

Barcolana 2009

The Yacht Club Adriatico under the 1700 boats of the Barcolana 09.

Sunday, October 11, 2009

Saturday, October 10, 2009

Waiting for the Barcolana 2009

See the "barcolana" label for last year's regatta.

Friday, October 9, 2009

Skywatch Friday post


See more Skywatch here.

Thursday, October 8, 2009

Via Zorutti 14

Wednesday, October 7, 2009

Tuesday, October 6, 2009

Tall arches...

...but are they really?

Monday, October 5, 2009

4balls

Sunday, October 4, 2009

chit-chat

Saturday, October 3, 2009

Mount of piety

(via Silvio Pellico)

Both the Italian term monte di pietà and the French term mont de piété translate into English as mount of piety.


The first institution was started in 1361 by the Bishop of London, Michael Northburgh, who left 1000 marks of silver for the establishment of a bank that should lend money on pawned objects, without interest, providing that the expenses of the institution be defrayed from its foundation capital.

The capital was eventually consumed, and the bank closed. More permanent institutions developed in fifteenth century Italy and was developed in cities as a reform against money lending. It is an example of one of the earliest forms of organized charity. More specifically, a public office which was organized and operated by Christians would offer financial loans at a moderate interest to those in need. This was viewed as a lesser evil than money lending because the principle of the organization was based on the benefit of the borrower and not the profit of the lender.

The spreading of this organization throughout the continent of Western Europe during the Middle Ages can be credited to the preaching of Franciscans and their condemnation of usury.

In 1462, the first recorded Monte di Pietà was founded in Perugia. Between the years 1462 and 1470, an estimated forty more of the same organization were developed.

The organization of the Monte di Pietà depended on acquiring a monte or a collection of funds from voluntary donations by financially privileged people who had no intentions of regaining their money. The people in need would then be able to come to the Monte di Pietà and give an item of value in exchange for a monetary loan. The term of the loan would last the course of a year and would only be worth about two-thirds of the borrower’s item value. A pre-determined interest rate would be applied to the loan and these profits were used to pay the expenses of operating the Monte di Pietà. (wiki)

Friday, October 2, 2009

STOP !

Thursday, October 1, 2009

phantom of the ocean

Blog anniversary today! One year!