The Skellingcorner

solarpunks:

The Cosmovital Botanical Gardens of Toluca, Mexico are known for their stunningly beautiful stained-glass windows, and provide a stirring example of ways that a city can find beautiful re-use for its built infrastructure.

Designed in art nouveau style by engineer Manuel Arratia, the building was originally constructed in 1909-1910 as the 16th de Septiembre Market. Over time, Toluca outgrew the market’s capacity, and it was closed in 1975. Debates over what to do with the space ensued: some suggested it be demolished and replaced with an open plaza, or sold to private interests to convert into offices. Local artist Leopolodo Flores worked with Yolanda Sentíes (the city’s first woman mayor) to gather support around converting the metal-and-glass upper structure into a space for art:

Flores envisioned something magnificent for the space.  He saw a huge stained glass mural encircling the entire building and running across the ceiling.  Below and within its confines he proposed a botanical garden.  The art would show the relationship between man and the universe, the flora that which places man in his ecological environment.

Over the next four years, work continued to clean off seven decades of grime, reinforce structural integrity, and construct the vast mural. It opened to the public in 1980, though battles in local government meant that the ceiling was only finished in 1990.

Flores and sixty artisans worked for three years, from 1978 to 1980. The window-mural consists of 71 modules which cover an area of about 3,200 meters square. The work uses approximately 75 tons of metal supports, 45 tons of blown glass and 25 tons of lead to join the about 500,000 glass pieces, which range in size from 15 to 45 cm. Twenty eight different colors of glass were used, most of which came from Italy, Germany, France, Belgium, Japan, Canada and the United States. On the north side of the building, blues dominate, with brighter colors on the south side. The sun is placed on the east side. The windows are the largest of their kind in the world.

Each year on the spring equinox, the sun aligns with the Hombre Sol. This annual event lasts about twenty minutes in the late afternoon and is celebrated with a classical music concert, timed to the passing of the sun. 

The Hombre Sol has come to be taken as a semi-official symbol of the city and state. At present only five percent of visitors are foreigners, but perhaps that might change.

Source: Kuriositas, Wikipedia. Also check out Lucy Nieto’s Flickr for more great photos.

itsonlythefirstdraft:

- The first draft is always bad–it doesn’t matter how much experience you have.

- Don’t be afraid of something turning out terrible. Starting out bad is the key to making something good in the future.

- You’ll see a lot of writing advice floating around the internet. A lot of it probably won’t work for you.

- That being said, don’t be afraid to try something you see–even if you don’t think you’ll use it–because there are some pieces of advice that will end up being a lifesaver.

- Don’t feel pressured to write something or not write something because some stranger on the internet said so.

- Don’t shy away from research. It can be intimidating, but it will only help you.

- Take every bit of advice with a grain of salt.

- You will get writer’s block. Sadly, there is no sure-fire way to cure it.

- Ignore someone if they criticizes you for writing the “trend.”

- There’s no “right” way to write.

- A lot of people will say a lot of things about your stories. Sometimes you should listen and sometimes you need to ignore them. It’s good to learn the difference.

- Write what you want to write.

- Make a habit of it.

rickbman:

1. Your oppressive post-apocalyptic world doesn’t have to be physically dark. It can actually be bright and colorful. The audience actually likes to be able to see what is going on.

2. Visual story telling is a lost art that needs to be found again. Seriously, this movie did not have a lot of dialog to begin with but you could have taken it all out and I would have still been able to follow the movie pretty well. Show us, don’t tell us.

3. Physical effects enhanced by CGI are the way to go. It will always have more weight than CGI on its own. Real people doing real stunts in real locations gives a substance that is missed when the same stunts are done in front of a green screen.

4. (and this one is REALLY important) You can have an action movie that centers around interesting female characters that aren’t being objectified and have their own agency and people will see it (and it will be AWESOME!). Also, your male character doesn’t always have to come charging to the rescue, he can even be the “damsel in distress” occasionally.

5. A flame throwing guitar is an excellent addition to any chase scene.