#City Centre Bucharest

[unwelcome-ozian]

Reading your responses to asks for a while. List of black sites?

Here are a few as well as a couple of links to previous posts.  1 2

Antaviliai is a neighbourhood of Vilnius, capital of Lithuania. It is located northwest of the city centre, on the northern edge of Antakalnis eldership. It was a separate village until in 1969 it was incorporated into the Vilnius city limits. The United States Central Intelligence Agency built a black site there in 2004.

Ain Aouda Secret Prison-A suspected black site, torture and detention centre operated by the Directorate for the Surveillance of the Territory (Direction de la surveillance du territoire, DST)

Bright Light-The codename of one of the Central Intelligence Agency's network of black sites—clandestine interrogation centres. The location of the site, in Bucharest, Romania.

Camp No-An alleged secret detention and torture facility (black site) related to the United States detainment camps located in Guantánamo Bay, Cuba. Estimated to be located about a mile beyond the regular camp boundaries, the camp was described as a highly secret facility referred to as "Camp No" by Guantanamo guards. When soldiers asked about it, they were told "No, it doesn't exist".

Lithuania, city of Vilnius-The black site was a guest house in the capital which operated as early as 2002.

Salt Pit and Cobalt-The code names of an isolated clandestine CIA black site prison and interrogation centre outside Bagram Air Basein Afghanistan. the same facility that Guantanamo Bay detainees referred to as the ‘dark prison.’ 

Thailand-Black site.CIA employees and contractors took over and began the torture of Abu Zubaydah and the FBI agents left. Coded: Green

Task Force 714, U.S.-An elite counter-terrorism brigade.” Interrogations at the Afghan black site reportedly have included use of sleep deprivation, sensory deprivation, brutality, isolation, relying on the guidelines of the Army Field Manual. Defence Counterintelligence and Human Intelligence Center (DCHC). (Susan Brandon)

Oz

[sisididis]

We spent our first day strolling through the old city centre. The sky was already darkening when we got there, so we took some pictures, popped in and out of shops and churches, and had a quick dinner at a local restaurant. 

On our second day, we made ourselves sore by walking the entire length of Schönbrunn and the surrounding gardens. What was extra memorable about our second day were our encounters with two different Romanian-speaking Serbs. One of them, Mr. Dragan, “a Vlach from Banat”, spoke to us in the most adorable Romanian I’ve ever heard. He had an accent and pronounced some words differently, but we understood everything he said. I melted every time he said  “piste tot” instead of “peste tot” (everywhere). We spent the entire time talking about the community of Vlachs in Valea Timocului and about Banat.

On our third day, we went to the Imperial Treasury and saw the Crown of the Holy Roman Empire (among many other jewels) in person. Isn’t it poetic how the last emperor of the empire that was ended by France was called Francis?  We skipped dinner that night because we didn’t realize that most restaurants and supermarkets would be closed on All Saints Day. 

Then on Thursday we went to Hauser’s concert, which exceeded our expectations. I’ve lived all my life in Romania, but I’ve never felt more Balkan than I did that night haha! It was as if the entire peninsula gathered in one arena. I’ve lost count how many times I heard “Bože moj” and “šarmantan” from the ladies seated behind me.

On our last day it rained all day, but we braved the bad weather for a piece of cake from the famous Café Sacher. We didn’t have time to do anything else after that, so we ran to the hotel to grab our luggage. Right before we boarded the airplane to leave, an airport employee who was guiding someone to their gate mixed up Bucharest and Budapest. He couldn’t stop laughing at his own blunder, and we had a good laugh about it, too. 

[mariacallous]

Grab your laptop and head for the Balkans. Balkan cities have grabbed all the top places in popular online UK listing’s mag Time Out’s best cities in Europe to be a remote worker, or “digital nomad” to give it its more glamourous name.

Forget Paris, the much-hyped Portuguese capital Lisbon or touristed-out Prague.

First place goes in this table to the often-overlooked capital of North Macedonia, Skopje.

Travel experts at Norton Finance company, the loan company producing the ranking table, looked at 184 countries worldwide and ranked them based on average rent, utilities, transport, food, gym and internet costs, as well as the cost of return flights from the UK.

Defending its decision to give first prize in Europe to little known Skopje, it writes: “The city is a notoriously good-value tourist destination, popular for its archaeological sites and street food …. The value of public transport is one reason why Skopje scores so well, as a monthly public transport pass is an enormous eight times cheaper than the London equivalent.”

After Skopje, another Balkan capital grabs second place – Sarajevo, described as “the charming capital of Bosnia and Herzegovina. A one-bed flat in the city centre averages at a crazy-affordable €275 (£238, $289) per month”.

And third place goes to Moldova’s capital, Chisinau, a city that rings very few bells among UK travellers but where Norton Finance cheerily notes that a pint of beer “costs a measly €1.30 (£1.12, $1.37)” – i.e. about a quarter of the price in London.

Fourth place goes to Sofia in Bulgaria, fifth to Romania’s capital Bucharest and sixth to Belgrade in Serbia.

Copenhagen and Dublin are ranked among the worst European cities to be a digital nomad by Norton Finance, mainly owing to sky-high rents, some five times higher than those in the Balkans.

The number of so-called digital nomads, people working remotely – often but not always abroad – has surged massively in recent years, as office work goes out of fashion, wifi gets better and as more and more people work online.

“Thanks to the pandemic, more people are choosing to embrace a location-independent, technology-enabled lifestyle that allows them to travel and work remotely,” Forbes magazine noted in 2022,. It suggested that by 2025 some 22 per cent of the US workforce will be remote workers, or 37.5 million people.

It adds: “To date, a total of 46 countries have jumped on the digital nomad visa bandwagon”, offering visas specially designed to lure such nomads from abroad.

[roammania2023]

Waking up earlier than the previous day, I made my way to the Old Town for breakfast. I found a cafe and ordered a Full English. One of my frustrations with Romania is that the food takes so long to come, and then when it arrives, it’s usually cold. This restaurant was a slight exception. Overall, in my opinion the food isn’t amazing in Bucharest.

I hiked north up Calea Victoriei admiring more grandiose buildings on my way. Eventually I arrived at Arcul de Triumf, a memorial similar in appearance to the one in Paris. This one was built to commemorate the fallen of WW2.

Like the one in Paris, this one is built on a roundabout. However unlike Paris, there isn’t an underpass meaning that you have to cross a busy intersection. The crossing took at least 5 minutes.

I arrived at Parcul Regele Mihai I. This great park had a lake and a Japanese Garden amongst other attractions. An added bonus was that some of the cherry blossoms were still in bloom.

I made my way back down the Calea Victoriei and stopped at the National Geology museum followed by the Museum of Natural History. This place was chaos, it was full of kids screaming with their parents rushing to take photos of the exhibitions. Nevertheless, it was a good museum.

My next stop was the National Museum of Romanian History. This was an interesting museum and educated me as to why Romanian, like Italian and French is a romantic language. It’s because Romania was under the Roman Empire for many years of course. It explains where the country gets its name and why the people seem are similar to Italians in their appearance and mannerisms.

In the Old Town I stopped for an apple pie and coffee before being drawn to Caru’ cu Bere for dinner, which is an old beer hall. The interior was very impressive.

I went to explore what was left of the old Jewish Quarter. It once spread from Unirii eastwards. The quarter was devastated by the holocaust, emigration to Israel and then demolished in the 1980s. There are a few remaining relics such as a theatre, holocaust museum and a few synagogues. Most of it has been replaced by communist flats which are now being replaced by modern flats which look like communist flats, and there are lots and lots of car parks. The area is slowly being regenerated though and it looks like it is becoming a business centre.

I explored the Old Town at night again. Being a Sunday there wasn’t much going on and a lot of the bars were closed. I was surprised because it is a capital city. After a few beers and a Gyros from a Greek restaurant I made my way back, this time without falling over.

[mirandamckenni1]

ALESTORM ft. PATTY GURDY - Voyage Of The Dead Marauder (Official Video) | Napalm Records New EP, Voyage of the Dead Marauder, Out March 22, 2024! Pre-Order: https://ift.tt/rBteQGu Chris Bowes comments: "Ever since I was a little girl I dreamed of being in one of those female fronted symphonic metal bands where all the identikit-looking guys are blurry and in the background while a lady stands at the front and does some insane vocals. Thanks to Patty Gurdy all my dreams have come true! I hope you like this song, we all think it's nice. PLPLPLPLPL! My favorite part is when the cat turns into a skeleton." Produced by Mirko Witzki Make sure to Catch ALESTORM live on tour! ALESTORM Live 2024 UK & Ireland Tour 2024 w/ Korpiklaani & Heidevolk 21.02.24 UK – London / O2 Forum Kentish Town 22.02.24 UK – Norwich / LCR UEA 23.02.24 UK – Nottingham / Rock City 24.02.24 UK – Bournemouth / O2 Academy 25.02.24 UK – Bristol / O2 Academy 27.02.24 IE – Belfast / Limelight 28.02.24 IE – Dublin / Academy 29.02.24 UK – Cardiff / SU 01.03.24 UK – Birmingham / O2 Academy 02.03.24 UK – Oxford / O2 Academy 03.03.24 UK – Glasgow / O2 Academy 05.03.24 UK – Manchester / O2 Victoria Warehouse 06.03.24 UK – Liverpool / O2 Academy 07.03.24 UK – Leeds / O2 Academy 08.03.24 UK – Newcastle / NX 09.03.24 UK – London / O2 Forum Kentish Town “Tour Of The Dead Marauder” w/ Elvenking & Glyph 19.03.24 US – Cincinnati, OH / Bogart’s 20.03.24 US – Grand Rapids, MI / Elevation 22.03.24 CA – Toronto, ON / The Concert Hall 23.03.24 CA – Montreal, QC / MTELUS 24.03.24 US – New Haven, CT / Toad’s Place 26.03.24 US – Pittsburgh, PA / Stage AE 27.03.24 US – Detroit, MI / The Majestic 29.03.24 US – Milwaukee, WI / The Rave 30.03.24 US – Omaha, NE / The Admiral 02.04.24 CA – Winnipeg, MB / Park Theatre 03.04.24 CA – Saskatoon, SK / Coors Event Centre 05.04.24 CA – Edmonton, AB / Midway Music Hall 06.04.24 CA – Calgary, AB / The Palace Theatre 08.04.24 CA – Vancouver, BC / Commodore 09.04.23 US – Spokane, WA / Knitting Factory 10.04.24 US – Boise, ID / Knitting Factory 12.04.24 US – Sacramento, CA / Ace of Spades 13.04.24 US – Santa Ana, CA / The Observatory 15.04.24 US – Tucson, AZ / Rialto Theatre 16.04.24 US – Albuquerque, NM / Sunshine Theater 18.04.24 US – Oklahoma City, OK / Diamond 19.04.24 US – St. Louis, MO / Red Flag 20.04.24 US – Indianapolis, IN / Old National 21.04.24 US – Nashville, TN / Marathon Festivals 2024 28.06.24 FI – Tuska / Sulvilahti 05.07.24 DE – Rock Harz / Ballenstedt 11.07.24 HU – Rockmaraton / Dunaújváros 12.07.24 CZ – Masters of Rock / Vizovice 13.07.24 AT – Area 53 / Leoben 14.07.24 NL – Pirate Metal Party / Helmond 17.07.24 RO – Metalhead Meeting / Bucharests 20.07.24 IT – Luppolo in Rock / Cremona 10.08.2024 ES – Leyendas del Rock / Villena https://ift.tt/CMnFY2J https://ift.tt/4YNXcb6 https://twitter.com/alestormband https://ift.tt/tGEco5x via YouTube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LT7HqIP55tI

[neverendingdreamer00]

At the city centre of Bucharest 🤎🚶‍♀️🏙🏛☁️🍂🍁🌳

#2023 #autumn #businesstrip #travelling #architecture #structure #colours #photography #Romania

[o-craven-canto]

The Clock Towers (Arabic: أبراج الساعة, romanized: Abrāj al-Sāʿa, lit. 'Towers of the Clock', formerly known as Abraj Al Bait), is a government-owned complex of seven skyscraper hotels in Mecca, Saudi Arabia... The total height of the clock is 57 m (187 ft), just below the media displays under the clock faces. At 43 m × 43 m (141 ft × 141 ft), these are the largest in the world. The roof of the clock is 450 m (1,480 ft) above the ground, making it the world's most elevated architectural clock. A spire has been added on top of the clock giving it a total height of 601 m (1,972 ft).

The complex was built after the demolition of the Ajyad Fortress, the 18th-century Ottoman citadel on top of a hill overlooking the Grand Mosque.

(The clock face, comparison with other famous clock towers, from Wikipedia. The one at top right is London's Big Ben, at the same scale.)

The Palace of the Parliament (Romanian: Palatul Parlamentului), also known as the House of the Republic (Casa Republicii) or People's House/People's Palace (Casa Poporului), is the seat of the Parliament of Romania, located atop Dealul Spirii in Bucharest, the national capital. The Palace reaches a height of 84 m (276 ft), has a floor area of 365,000 m2 (3,930,000 sq ft) and a volume of 2,550,000 m3 (90,000,000 cu ft). The Palace of the Parliament is one of the heaviest buildings in the world, weighing about 4,098,500,000 kilograms (9.04 billion pounds; 4.10 million tonnes), also being the second largest administrative building in the world. (The Great Pyramid of Giza at about 5.75 million tons is about 40% heavier)... The Palace was ordered by Nicolae Ceaușescu (1918–1989), the president of Communist Romania... Approximately 7 km2 (2.7 sq mi) of the old city centre were demolished, with 40,000 people being relocated from the area. The works were carried out with forced labour in addition to soldiers, minimizing costs.

Due to its impressive characteristics, events organized by state institutions and international bodies such as conferences and symposia take place there, but despite this about 70% of the building remains empty... The cost of heating, electricity, and lighting alone exceeds $6 million per year.

Only two large meeting rooms and 400 others have been finished or are even being used, out of a total of 1,100. The building has eight underground levels, the deepest housing a nuclear bunker, linked to main state institutions by 20 km (12.4 mi) of tunnels... The Palace of the Parliament sinks 6 mm (0.24 in) each year due to its weight.

The Volkshalle ("People's Hall"), also called Große Halle ("Great Hall") or Ruhmeshalle ("Hall of Glory"), was a proposal for a monumental, domed building to be built in a reconstituted Berlin (renamed as Germania) in Nazi Germany. The project was conceived by Adolf Hitler and designed by his architect Albert Speer. No part of the building was ever constructed.

Speer's Monster-Building (German: Monsterbau) was to be the capital's most important and impressive building in terms of its size and symbolism... The oculus of the building's dome, 46 metres (151 ft) in diameter, would have accommodated the entire rotunda of Hadrian's Pantheon and the dome of St. Peter's Basilica. The dome of the Volkshalle was to rise from a massive granite podium 315 by 315 metres (1,033 ft × 1,033 ft) and 74 metres (243 ft) high, to a total inclusive height of 290 metres (950 ft). The diameter of the dome, 250 metres (820 ft), was to be exceeded, much to Speer's annoyance, by the diameter of Giesler's new domed railway station at the east end of Munich's east-west axis.

(Berlin's Royal Palace shown for comparison)

... the building would indeed have had its own "weather", with the breathing and perspiration of 150,000 occupants precipitating in the high dome; but rather than considering this a problem, Nazi propaganda would boast of it.

The Palace of the Soviets (Russian: Дворец Советов, Dvorets Sovetov) was a project to construct a political convention center in Moscow on the site of the demolished Cathedral of Christ the Saviour. The main function of the palace was to house sessions of the Supreme Soviet in its 130-metre (430 ft) wide and 100-metre (330 ft) tall grand hall seating over 20,000 people. If built, the 416-metre (1,365 ft) tall palace would have become the world's tallest structure, with an internal volume surpassing the combined volumes of the six tallest American skyscrapers... Work on the site commenced in 1933; the foundation was completed in January 1939. The German invasion in June 1941 ended the project.

The statue of Lenin, weighing around 6,000 tons, was to be built around its own steel frame, and clad in monel sheeting with an estimated lifetime of two thousand years.

The outline of the palace was so omnipresent in Soviet media that, according to Sheila Fitzpatrick, it became more familiar to the average citizen than any existing building. The palace appeared on postcards, stationery and candy wrappers. Filmmakers routinely used special effects to blend the model of the palace into live-action street scenes, as if the structure actually existed.

when buildings in architectural projects are so enormous they make you hyperventilate and have an anxiety attack. thats the shit.

[sorrynoroomsavailable]

The fifth edition of Kyiv Biennial will be international and will take place in Kyiv, Ivano Frankivsk, Uzhhorod, Vienna, Warsaw and Berlin.

In view of the brutal Russian attack on Ukraine, a comprehensive biennial project in Kyiv long seemed deeply uncertain, if not impossible. But, with a cascade of openings – starting in Kyiv and Vienna in October 2023, finishing in Berlin in 2024 – the fifth Kyiv Biennial will take place. This Biennial edition is conceived as a European event, with dispersed exhibitions and public programs in a number of Ukrainian and EU cities, and realized in partnership with leading European institutions in the field of contemporary art.

Instead of abandoning the project and thus submitting to the logic of war that attacks everything civil, the 2023 Biennial draws upon its founding idea: that of being a multi-centric initiative in a European, interconnected and solidary form. Art institutions in Ukraine (in Kyiv, Ivano-Frankivsk and Uzhhorod) organize presentations and events in their endangered yet working infrastructures. Despite the late start of planning due to the war, museums and exhibition halls in Vienna (the main exhibition spot), Warsaw and Berlin, together with venues in other European cities, have freed up their spaces and platforms for exhibitions and events with Ukrainian and international artists as well as for discursive, performative and educational activities. Together, the institutions have formed a curato rial consortium to jointly create a conceptual framework within which they develop their respective Kyiv Biennial programs.

How can a country at war address political, social, cultural and societal issues? Today, the experience of artists and cultural workers in Ukraine is profoundly marked by war trauma, displacement, lack of access to basic resources and, in many cases, direct involve ment in armed resistance or the experience of life under military occupation. This poses existential challenges for the future of art and cultural production in Ukraine. The upcoming Biennial aims at reintegrating the Ukrainian artistic community, divided and scattered throughout Europe by the war, in order to empower its actors to work and reflect collectively and together with international colleagues on cultural, social and environmental challenges Ukraine is currently facing and to imagine scenarios for an emancipatory future within a global context.

The Kyiv Biennial strategy, developed in the course of its four previous editions, merges artistic production, critical knowledge and social engagement in the times of emergency, where curatorship goes far beyond its contemporary meaning of an artistic and organizational practice and becomes resignified with its original sense of restoration, rehabilitation and relief, thus suggesting not a biennial, but a perennial long-run international project, a “Kyiv Perennial.”

Kyiv Biennial 2023 is conceived and organized by the Visual Culture Research Center (Kyiv) together with tranzit.at (Vienna), tranzit.org (Bratislava, Budapest, Bucharest, Cluj, Iași, Prague and Vienna), Museum of Modern Art in Warsaw, Museum Crisis Center (Lviv), Other Edges, Dovzhenko Centre (Kyiv), Asortymentna Kimnata (Ivano-Frankivsk) and Sorry, No Rooms Available (Uzhhorod).

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2023.kyivbiennial.org

[kirstythejetblackgoldfish]

Nicolae and Muammar spend the day at a festive Bucharest city centre

Also available on DeviantArt here

[taarna-hendrix]

Capitals of the Baltic - Escape the Riga centre

City breaks can be more than just the touristy city centre. Check out what we found outside of Riga's Old Town during our long weekend getaway.

Riga made us realise how much we love city breaks. But it wasn’t just the cobbles streets of Old Town and its coffee shops. Riga, like Bucharest, has quite a lot more to offer if you venture a bit outside of the “tourist trap” city centre. We spent only 3 days in Riga so we had to choose carefully what we wanted to see – what is the point of spending about 40 minutes on public transport to just…

[suetravelblog]

Old Town and City Centre Bucharest Romania

Old Town and City Centre Bucharest Romania

Stavropoleos Church Old Town – Diana Condrea I’m becoming more comfortable using the metro and trams to get around town and learn about Bucharest. It’s a beguiling city, unlike any other I’ve experienced. After Romanians discover you’re a foreigner, they’re curious and cautious. It takes them time to warm up, but if they decide you’re OK, they’re open and great communicators. They don’t “mince…

[bluewinnerangel]

Louis Tomlinson FITF 2023 Tour dates and location as of Oct 14 2022

Date - Country - City - Venue 29-Aug-23 - Germany - Hamburg - Barclays Arena 31-Aug-23 - Denmark - Copenhagen - Royal Arena 01-Sep-23 - Norway - Oslo - Spektrum 02-Sep-23 - Sweden - Stockholm - Hovet 04-Sep-23 - Finland - Helsinki - Ice Hall 05-Sep-23 - Estonia - Tallinn - Saku Arena 07-Sep-23 - Latvia - Riga - Arena Riga 08-Sep-23 - Lithuania - Kaunas - Zalgiris Arena 10-Sep-23 - Poland - Krakow - Tauron Arena 11-Sep-23 - Poland - Lodz - Atlas Arena 13-Sep-23 - Austria - Vienna - Wiener Stadthalle D 14-Sep-23 - Slovenia - Ljubljana - Stozice Arena 15-Sep-23 - Hungary - Budapest - Budapest Arena 17-Sep-23 - Romania - Bucharest - Arenele Romane 18-Sep-23 - Bulgaria - Sofia - Arena Armeec 20-Sep-23 - Greece - Athens - Petras Theatre 01-Oct-23 - Spain - Bilbao (Vizcaya) - Bilbao Arena Miribilla 03-Oct-23 - Portugal - Lisbon - Altice Arena 05-Oct-23 - Spain - Madrid - Wizink Center 06-Oct-23 - Spain - Barcelona - Palau Sant Jordi 08-Oct-23 - Italy - Turin - Pala Alpitour 09-Oct-23 - Italy - Bologna - Unipol Arena 11-Oct-23 - Luxembourg - Esch-Sur-Alzette - Rockhal 12-Oct-23 - Belgium - Antwerp - Sportpaleis 14-Oct-23 - France - Paris - Accor Arena 15-Oct-23 - Netherlands - Amsterdam - Ziggo Dome 17-Oct-23 - Germany - Cologne - Lanxess Arena 19-Oct-23 - Czech Republic - Prague - O2 Arena 20-Oct-23 - Germany - Berlin - Mercedes-Benz Arena 22-Oct-23 - Germany - Munich - Olympiahalle 23-Oct-23 - Switzerland - Zurich - Hallenstadion 08-Nov-23 - Ireland - Dublin - 3arena 10-Nov-23 - United Kingdom - Sheffield - Utilita Arena 11-Nov-23 - United Kingdom - Manchester - Ao Arena 12-Nov-23 - United Kingdom - Glasgow - Ovo Hydro 14-Nov-23 - United Kingdom - Brighton - Brighton Centre 15-Nov-23 - United Kingdom - Cardiff - International Arena 17-Nov-23 - United Kingdom - London - The O2 18-Nov-23 - United Kingdom - Birmingham - Resorts World Arena

[mashyimaro]

Help for Ukrainian refugees in Romania from citizens and NGOs

I'm compiling a list of NGOs and people who are looking to help out Ukrainians fleeing war and coming to Romania in this period. Most of the NGOs are accepting donations, including from other countries. Please share this around so Ukrainian people can get the help they need and so others who are looking to donate can do so to verified NGOs.

Refugees can contact the Romanian National Council for Refugees for legal help. Their eng site here.

Jesuit Refugee Service (JRS) Romania offer support for accommodation, food and other basic items, as well as medical assistance. They have support teams in the Northern and Eastern parts of Romania but can also provide support in other areas as needed. They accept donations. Here is their FB post in English.

International transport company Romfour offers free bus rides to Ukrainian citizens arriving at the Siret customs point who want to get to bus or train stations. They can also transport refugees to Italy free of charge (every Friday) and offer discounts on other international routes (such as France or Germany). Further details here. According to the media, transport company Tarsin provides similar services, also free of charge - more here.

Fight for Freedom provides accommodation and food at its centers in Veresti and Burdujeni in Suceava county. They're sharing updates and information on their Facebook page - here. You can donate on their website.

Dyno Lake fishing complex in the county of Calarasi also announced that it could offer accommodation to Ukrainian refugees - further details here.

Complexul Turistic Costești also joined the list of local businesses supporting Ukrainians with accommodation and food. No more rooms were available on Friday morning, but they said they would publish updates regularly. More details here.

Local businessman Stefan Mandachi offers accommodation at his hotel in Suceava (limited spaces), as well as free meals at the Spartan restaurant in the city centre (Ukrainians need to show an ID card). Plus, those who want to make donations can do so at the same restaurant, and the businessman is also working on setting up special spaces for pets. He's updating the information on Facebook - here.

MOOD Coffee in Gura Humorului is also offering free meals to Ukrainian refugees. Their facebook page here.

The Caradja Cantacuzino Association in Bucharest collects packages with essential goods for the Ukrainian refugees. Those interested can help with clothes, hygiene products, face masks, baby products, blankets, or towels. More details here.

Local organization LOGS is raising funds for the Ukrainian refugees. Further details here.

Several organizations have also offered support and assistance to Ukrainian citizens coming to Romania with their pets. Among them, Clubul de Excelenta Canina Patrocle Brasov, Casa lui Patrocle, Save our Paws Association in Iasi, MegaDreams Pet Taxi in Iasi, and Fight for Animals in Baia Mare.

Uniti pentru Ucraina (United for Ukraine) is a Facebook group where people are organizing themselves to offer help where it's needed (from offering clothing/food, to offering to drive people to other cities, to offering accommodation; I even saw a post asking if there's a need for blood donations for refugees).

A lot of city halls and local NGOs are setting up places where you can donate food, clothes, hygiene products etc. please google your specific city! (I sadly couldn't find a directory of all of them)

Ukrainian speakers in Romania can contact the Students' Association in Maramures if they can help with coordinating the refugees at the border. More details here.

Code for Romania, an NGO that works on creating tech solutions for societal issues, announced they're working on an ecosystem meant to combat war-related fake news as well as aid refugees. They will provide information on accommodation spaces available across the country, resource & volunteer management, or the roles of institutional actors in this emergency situation. Plus, they plan to launch an information and support platform for people who will ask for help from Romania. You can donate to them here (they also have a Paypal link!).

[mirandamckenni1]

ALESTORM ft. PATTY GURDY - Voyage Of The Dead Marauder (Official Video) | Napalm Records New EP, Voyage of the Dead Marauder, Out March 22, 2024! Pre-Order: https://ift.tt/G6Y4HbD Chris Bowes comments: "Ever since I was a little girl I dreamed of being in one of those female fronted symphonic metal bands where all the identikit-looking guys are blurry and in the background while a lady stands at the front and does some insane vocals. Thanks to Patty Gurdy all my dreams have come true! I hope you like this song, we all think it's nice. PLPLPLPLPL! My favorite part is when the cat turns into a skeleton." Produced by Mirko Witzki Make sure to Catch ALESTORM live on tour! ALESTORM Live 2024 UK & Ireland Tour 2024 w/ Korpiklaani & Heidevolk 21.02.24 UK – London / O2 Forum Kentish Town 22.02.24 UK – Norwich / LCR UEA 23.02.24 UK – Nottingham / Rock City 24.02.24 UK – Bournemouth / O2 Academy 25.02.24 UK – Bristol / O2 Academy 27.02.24 IE – Belfast / Limelight 28.02.24 IE – Dublin / Academy 29.02.24 UK – Cardiff / SU 01.03.24 UK – Birmingham / O2 Academy 02.03.24 UK – Oxford / O2 Academy 03.03.24 UK – Glasgow / O2 Academy 05.03.24 UK – Manchester / O2 Victoria Warehouse 06.03.24 UK – Liverpool / O2 Academy 07.03.24 UK – Leeds / O2 Academy 08.03.24 UK – Newcastle / NX 09.03.24 UK – London / O2 Forum Kentish Town “Tour Of The Dead Marauder” w/ Elvenking & Glyph 19.03.24 US – Cincinnati, OH / Bogart’s 20.03.24 US – Grand Rapids, MI / Elevation 22.03.24 CA – Toronto, ON / The Concert Hall 23.03.24 CA – Montreal, QC / MTELUS 24.03.24 US – New Haven, CT / Toad’s Place 26.03.24 US – Pittsburgh, PA / Stage AE 27.03.24 US – Detroit, MI / The Majestic 29.03.24 US – Milwaukee, WI / The Rave 30.03.24 US – Omaha, NE / The Admiral 02.04.24 CA – Winnipeg, MB / Park Theatre 03.04.24 CA – Saskatoon, SK / Coors Event Centre 05.04.24 CA – Edmonton, AB / Midway Music Hall 06.04.24 CA – Calgary, AB / The Palace Theatre 08.04.24 CA – Vancouver, BC / Commodore 09.04.23 US – Spokane, WA / Knitting Factory 10.04.24 US – Boise, ID / Knitting Factory 12.04.24 US – Sacramento, CA / Ace of Spades 13.04.24 US – Santa Ana, CA / The Observatory 15.04.24 US – Tucson, AZ / Rialto Theatre 16.04.24 US – Albuquerque, NM / Sunshine Theater 18.04.24 US – Oklahoma City, OK / Diamond 19.04.24 US – St. Louis, MO / Red Flag 20.04.24 US – Indianapolis, IN / Old National 21.04.24 US – Nashville, TN / Marathon Festivals 2024 28.06.24 FI – Tuska / Sulvilahti 05.07.24 DE – Rock Harz / Ballenstedt 11.07.24 HU – Rockmaraton / Dunaújváros 12.07.24 CZ – Masters of Rock / Vizovice 13.07.24 AT – Area 53 / Leoben 14.07.24 NL – Pirate Metal Party / Helmond 17.07.24 RO – Metalhead Meeting / Bucharests 20.07.24 IT – Luppolo in Rock / Cremona 10.08.2024 ES – Leyendas del Rock / Villena https://ift.tt/D8IYqSa https://ift.tt/QxMIS13 https://twitter.com/alestormband https://ift.tt/aEuby2x via YouTube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LT7HqIP55tI

[neverendingdreamer00]

At the city centre of Bucharest 🤍🚶‍♀️🏛🏨🌇🌳🌿

#2023 #autumn #businesstrip #travelling #architecture #structure #colours #photography #Romania

[thinkingimages]

Ghérasim Luca, Théodore Brauner | Le vampire passif, 1945 - Centre Pompidou

Ghérasim Luca's Le Vampire Passif has for many years been surrounded by an aura of mystery, like a ‘forgotten' or lost grimoire of surrealist writing; a book that, like its author, has had something of a ‘phantom existence'. First published in Bucharest in 1945, by the appropriately named Éditions de l'Oubli (‘Forgotten Books') - written in French, and not his native Romanian - in an edition of only 460 copies, the book was not republished until 2001, by José Corti. It was not only its inaccessibility that created the book's legendary status, and not only amongst that minority readership interested in surrealism, but the personality of its author.

The Passive Vampire caught the attention of the French Surrealists when an excerpt appeared in 1947 in the magazine La part du sable. Luca, whose work was admired by Gilles Deleuze, attempts here to transmit the "shudder" evoked by some Surrealist texts, such as André Breton's Nadja and Mad Love, probing with acerbic humor the fragile boundary between "objective chance" and delirium.

The Passive Vampire itself is an object that is incredibly difficult to describe, as elusive as its subject matter, being a concoction of theoretical enquiry and deeply personal observation, mixing poetic prose and psychoanalytic investigation. On the surface, it deals with the creation and exchange of (highly personal) surrealist objects, illustrated throughout with enigmatic photographs, presented as pictorial evidence in such a way as to place the book in a lineage stemming from André Breton's Nadja. In places it possesses a distinct lyrical quality, most likely inspired by Lautréamont, but rather than taking a delirious plunge into the imagination's depths through any purple prose, Luca writes with a disarming honesty and directness in describing and interpreting events.

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Born in Bucharest the son of a Jewish tailor, he spoke Yiddish, Romanian, German, and French. During 1938, he traveled frequently to Paris where he was introduced to the Surrealist circles. World War II and the official antisemitism in Romania forced him into local exile. During the short pre-Communist period of Romanian independence, he founded a Surrealist artists group, together with Gellu Naum, Paul Păun, Virgil Teodorescu and Dolfi Trost. His first publications, including poems in French followed. He was the inventor of cubomania and, with Dolfi Trost, the author of the statement "Dialetic of Dialectic" in 1945. Harassed in Romania and caught while trying to flee the country, the self-called étran-juif ("StranJew") finally left Romania in 1952, and moved to Paris through Israel. There he worked among others with Jean Arp, Paul Celan, François Di Dio and Max Ernst, producing numerous collages, drawings, objects, and text-installations. From 1967, his reading sessions took him to places like Stockholm, Oslo, Geneva, New York City, and San Francisco. The 1988 TV-portrait by Raoul Sanglas, Comment s'en sortir sans sortir, made him famous for a larger readership. In 1994, he was expelled from his apartment officially for "hygiene reasons." Luca had spent forty years in France without papers and could not cope. On February 9, at the age of 80, he committed suicide by jumping into the Seine.

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Luca developed a stuttering kind of poetry that he called "ontophonie" - the one so inspired by Gilles Deleuze — that he called “ontophonie”; as according to Luca, "[i]n... language that serves to designate objects, the word has only one or two meanings and it keeps sonority imprisoned. But let one break the form in which it has become bogged down and new relationships appear... Liberate the breath and every word becomes a signal."

Quotations: "Only a hallucinated cup or a watermelon would be deluded enough to think that there are common traits between myself and humans, since what humans call love is the encounter of two imbecile hearts."