Vytilla Junction; “The person who fought for the rights of Black People–Dear Nelson Mandela”
From Behind the Wheel: Nelson Mandela Roadside Obituary
Urban
Questions About Urban Agriculture
The University of Washington’s magazine, Conservation, has a set of provocative new articles in the food-focused current issue, including this one:
The cultural—and agricultural—quest to reclaim and reform the food system appeals primarily to relatively privileged, mostly white urbanites. Committed to the pulse of city life, these advocates generally view the countryside as a place for weekend getaways. Still, they want to be close to the point of food production and in turn are bringing agriculture into the city, one vacant lot at a time, to close the gap between farm and fork. Continue reading
From Behind the Wheel: Art Shack
Mattanchery
Encased in Ash
Encased in Ash – Body Mold from Pompeii
In 79AD, Mt. Vesuvius erupted with disastrous consequences for the residents of nearby Pompeii, Herculaneum, and other cities in the Campania region. Flows of boiling mud and rock rushed down the slopes, clouds of noxious fumes billowed upwards in the wind, and thousands of tons of rock and ash rained down upon the countryside. Pliny the Younger saw the eruption and likened it to a pinus, a pine tree. This may baffle some American readers, who may be accustomed to see pine trees that taper from a wide base to a narrow point Continue reading
The Hut of Romulus
Hut of Romulus (Post holes where arrow is pointing.)
Today, all that remains of the so-called “Hut of Romulus” are the holes you see in the picture above (the slight indentations on the platform where the arrow is pointing). When intact, Romulus’ humble wattle-and-daub dwelling, located in the southwest corner of the Palatine Hill in Rome, might have looked something like this. One might have expected that the passing of nearly three millennia would not have treated well the wood, straw, and twisted bark ties of the hut, but even in its own day the Hut was prone to accidental destruction. One particularly ignominious story has a crow dropping Continue reading
Word on the Street
Last year we talked about artist Ken Brown in a genre specific post. Not only is he a collector of all things vintage he has a keen eye for the quirky juxtapositions that occur in everyday urban life. It makes perfect sense that he would have his ear to the ground about Bansky’s New York arrival.
International street art eminence, Banksy, arrived in NYC and word had it that he would do a piece somewhere in the city each day, for one month. A friend tipped me on a location for the third day Continue reading
Urban Pollination Studied By Seattle’s Citizen Scientists
Thanks to this coverage commitment we came across the video above and this accompanying explanation:
…Marie Clifford and Susan Waters, graduate researchers at the University of Washington in Seattle, have found a way to get around scarce research funding: citizen scientists. The Urban Pollination Project (UPP), co-founded in 2011, takes Seattle community gardeners and trains them to collect data on local bees. Tapping into citizen scientist efforts, Clifford and Waters can gather data from 35 Seattle community gardens – a scale of research otherwise outside of their resources and funding capabilities. Continue reading
From Behind the Wheel: You Can Lead a Mule to Water…
Tripunithura
From Behind the Wheel: Cook Food, Serve Love
Bangalore
From Behind the Wheel: Mattanchery Repo Man
Mattanchery
From Behind the Wheel: Colour-Coded Pondicherry Parking
Photo credit: Ramesh Kidangoor
Conservation and Your Health
Park in København -Enriching the city’s biodiversity
Conservationists have always referenced the benefits of biodiversity to the natural world, but many people wouldn’t associate that benefit with our own species. Humans have always had a bond and relation with the natural world, so it is logical that the change, no matter how small, in one would affect the other. According to a Discovery Magazine article, there is new compelling evidence out there showing that biodiversity is good for our health, and the lack of it in urban areas might be the cause of the rise in inflammatory and allergy problems.
The main evidence comes from a Finnish study that found that children who lived in a more biodiverse environment were less likely to have an allergic reaction to a controlled allergen substance than children who did not.
…the urban-dwelling nature of developed countries may be to blame for their increasing problem with inflammatory diseases. If so, conservation of natural spaces, including parks and other green initiatives, may be key to protecting the health of future generations. Continue reading
From Behind the Wheel: Directing Pondicherry Traffic
Photo credit: Ramesh Kidangoor
From Behind the Wheel: Cakes and Copies
Kadavanthra, Ernakulam
From Behind the Wheel: Syncopated Mass Transit
Pallimukku Junction, Ernakulam
From Behind the Wheel: Rickshaw Pondicherry Style
Photo Credit: Ramesh Kidangoor
From Behind the Wheel: Friendly Pharmacies
Shenoys Junction, Ernakulam
Urban Muse
It does not matter whether you are a farmer, a geneticist, or whatever you do with your time: you will almost certainly be affected in important, unexpected ways after time spent in Paris. Continue reading
From Behind the Wheel: Peripatetic Mass Transit
Mattancherry
From Behind the Wheel: Hanuman Special Delivery
Allepey District
Organikos 