Not a happy new year at my city... a discotheque caught fire because of a flare someone sparked inside during a concert. The place was overcrowed with 6000 people (4000 was its max capacity). 10 blocks from home. The worst tragedy ever in Buenos Aires.

Baptiste, from France, has covered this from the beginning.

This won´t be a happy new year here, not at all. R.I.P. (most of the death: children and young kids of 15 to 25 years)

EDITED: Shit. I´ve just come to know now that one niece of a close friend of Mom -who she was going to spend the new year´s eve with- was there and coulnd´t make it. Jesus. Of course there is no party at that home tonight.

It is crazy that I was walking home from celebrating with a friend and I passed 5 blocks from there at midnight, the very moment of the drama... It is impossible not to put things in perspective when such things happen. I could have never been at a place like that, but truth is that if any other night club caught fire, the tragedy would be the same. As it was:

"For example, in the December 1993 fire that swept through the Kheyvis discotheque in Buenos Aires, the sparks and resulting fire were caused by the negligence of the owners and the lack of enforcement of safety standards.

Seventeen young people died and 24 were injured. The locale had neither fire extinguishers, ventilation, nor suitable fire exits. And although it was designed for a maximum of 150 people, 600 were packed in the dance hall that night. " source

The crime remains unpunished. The kids were at a graduation party. My brother was there. But had left the building minutes ago because he felt sick. Maybe he breathed the smoke. The fire began silently from a coach... I don´t mean to put you down, sorry, it is just that this is so sad and it fills me with anger because it could have been prevented.

Link to a PhotoGroup that gathers help, aid and hands for the Tsunami disaster in Asia

With all my heart I truly thank you for your words in the Peace photo, and in all the other photos as well. All my gratitude to you.

This xmas for me are a bit odd. I have not expected some things to turn out the way they did, so I am still a bit shocked.

However, as the tale teach us, beyond what happens to you, you have to keep your inner peace, you have to save some shelter inside where to come back when the outside turns gray and windy.

And that "place" of peace you build it in love and hope. Holding on to those beautiful human beings that have shown you the wonders of the world, who have shared with you their love and their tenderness, who have welcome your words and deeds and have let you love them as well.

These are times of thieves breaking into our houses. These are times of uncertainties, of mistrust, of hatter and violence. Times of confusion and actions out from the mainstream of compasion and mercy.

These are times, therefore, to hold on together, to express our feelings, to open our hearts and arms and to give what we´ve got to others.

The beatles said "But in the end the love you get is equal to the love you made." I´ve chossen to make of it the leit motif of my life.

I am not religious at all, but as there are things to learn everywhere, I keep what left me a message. There is the parable in the bible about the miracle of the multiplication of the breads and the fishes. Someone, a special one, have shown me how was I to read the metaphor.

We are not meant to believe that there was a true multiplication of the matterial things mentioned, so everyone that was there with Jesus could have a piece to eat. What this story tell us is that no matter what you have, neither how much you have, when you give it all, truly and entirely, it is always enough. You can feed a multitude, you make the miracle.

The miracle of love.

Merry xmas to you all and your families. Peace.

Gi

once upon a time...

There was an old man who lived lonely in a humble house of stone lost in the country. One night someone broke violently into his home. It was a foolly young boy, who had a knife and looked very scared. He said to the old man: -Give me everything you have or I kill you, old bastard!

The elder, said to the boy: -There is not much here, take everything you see, it´s yours.

The youngster, even more scared with the calm reaction of the owner began violently to get everything he had in sight: some ornaments, a piece of cloth, a candle holder, and some other worthless crafts... when he finished his search, with his hands full, he warned the man who remained looking at him quietly:

"Now I´ll go, don´t follow me or you are death"

And so he left the small house. After some minutes of fast walk, the boy realized that someone was behind him and as he turned back, the elder said to him:

-Don´t be afraid it´s me.
-I told you not to follow me silly oldman!
-It is that when you left I remembered I had this golden ring in a box, here it is, take it". And he turned back to return to his house.

The boy was so shocked with what was happenning that he took the ring and started running fast while he shouted "Mad man, madman!". It had started to rain.

A couple of hours later, the elder felt a knock on his door. When he openned he saw the young thief, wet with rain and tears. And this dialogue followed:

-What do you want now? I gave you everything I had!
-No, you didn´t give me everything- said the boy desperately
-Yes, i swear to you i did
-No, you gave me everything you had in your house, but you didn´t gave me what I really need.
-I have nothing else to give...

-Your inner peace, wise man... Give me peace.

Teach me. Please.

Blogged from Zenera´s Photopage at flickR. Please read the information she gives here on the subject: http://molene.blogspot.com/2004/12/pale-male-and-lola.html

We all can help, passing it on those far away and actively those at NY.

From Zenera´s blog reduced transcription of an article from http://www.macon.com/mld/macon/news/opinion/10388685.htm :

"A bunch of insensitive louts

Since 1993, an unlikely resident named Pale Male and his female companions have lived 12 stories up on a cornice of a ritzy New York apartment building. He has sired, depending upon who's telling the story, up to 23 offspring in his formerly breezy home, which had a neat view of the city's skyline and nearby Central Park.

Pale Male, a red-tailed hawk and a member of an endangered species, is inarguably the world's best-known bird. His fans have crossed oceans to watch the hawk, who for years has dutifully helped raise his families in the heart of a city rather than in the wild, as most hawks prefer.

So named because his colors are not as vibrant as most male red-tailed hawks, Pale Male was the star in a book by author Marie Winn and the subject of a PBS documentary film as well. Newspapers and television stories annually feature the hawk's adventures, and birdwatchers have been known to camp out on the street, waiting to see the hawk's offspring take flight from their 12th-floor nest.

But no more. The rich and powerful people who own the building at 927 Fifth Avenue and 74th Street apparently decided that having the hawk nest on their building was too much of an inconvenience. Bird droppings and such affronted their sense of decorum, so they had the nest destroyed and removed vital rods the hawk had used to anchor the nest to withstand strong winds." [continues]

Taller de marcos, enmarcados, vidrios, obras, fotografía, arte y diseño :: Talleres La Plaza



I have just finished it. A complete redesign in estructure, content and image -except for the logotype and leonardo´s icon. It is a framer´s shop, part of the same company owner of this other website I made: www.arteyarquitectura.com.

Hard work. Hope it likes. Happy it is finished. Phew...

puerto madero buenos aires argentina
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